


Machina

by andthatisterrible



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, F/F, they have something like super powers but in a more fantasy-ish setting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2019-09-17
Packaged: 2019-09-21 20:12:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 108,026
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17049800
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andthatisterrible/pseuds/andthatisterrible
Summary: On their thirteenth birthday, everyone is entitled to ask the spirits for a blessing, a special power that only they can use. Shaw is denied the chance to ask for one, Root demands one early, and nothing turns out quite like either had imagined. Years later, Root's quest to find the hiding place of one specific spirit leads her to a run-in with the very-recently-former-assassin/spy Shaw....Shoot fantasy/magic powers au.





	1. Skill

**Author's Note:**

> I'd been thinking about writing a team-machine-with-super-powers au, but I could never figure out quite how to go about it. In the end I decided to turn it into a fantasy au of sorts. Not so much what you might picture from high fantasy with royalty and unicorns and castles, but definitely swords and magic. I've got a few chapters written already, and I have a really, really vague idea of where it's going, so let's get this started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a couple things I tried out in this fic that I usually avoid. Dialogue from the actual show, for starters, though only in the very first chapter. And flashbacks to childhood, which I usually avoid writing but were needed in this for reasons. I think it turned out okay.

Sameen Shaw was getting really tired of dying. Not only was it unnecessarily unpleasant, but it was damned exhausting and a waste of time.

“Why couldn't Hersh have just cut my throat like a normal assassin?” she complained to her horse. The horse's ears twitched at the sound of her voice, but it didn't break from its slow pace forwards.

With every step, the trees around Shaw seemed to sway a bit too much, the scenery blurring together into a green smear surrounding her. Whatever type of poison it was that Hersh had put in that dart, it was messing with all her senses.

“There's a decent chance I'm going to be sick on you,” she told her horse. It snorted reproachfully, but continued to amble further into the forest. Shaw wondered if it was actually going anywhere or just wandering aimlessly.

It wasn't like it mattered much; there was no one left in any of the provinces that would willingly help her. She just needed to get far enough away from any potential pursuit to buy time to try and save herself.

But her plans for that were cancelled abruptly when the world tilted sideways and the ground came rushing up to meet her as she slid out of her saddle and crashed to the forest floor. She groaned at the additional pain of her recent injuries being jarred by her landing and tried to roll into a position that put less pressure on her aching ribs. The hilt of the sword at her side jabbed into her as she rolled over. Well, at least she was still armed.

She wasn't completely sure what had led Hersh to decide that it was necessary that she die, and it was doubtful it had been Hersh’s decision at all. Someone higher up the ranks had likely called for her death, though she couldn't figure out  _why_.

She was a little insulted that Hersh had chosen to try to take her out from a distance, but she'd been pleased with the momentary look of shock on his face when she'd caught up and tried to return the favor. The drug had really started kicking in during the fight and she'd fled before she’d lost all hope of saving herself, but she was content with the knowledge that somewhere out there Hersh was nursing a couple broken fingers and a nasty gash across the ribs.

A small piece of comfort.

Something tickled her face and she cracked one eye open to see her horse nosing at her in concern. It was a good horse, she decided, and perhaps she'd hold onto it if she survived the next few hours.

“Appreciate the concern,” she told the horse, her voice a rough croak. “But I'm going to need to concentrate for a bit now.”

There was no way the horse could have understood her, so she concluded that it must have just lost interest and backed off. She noted with relief that it didn't seem inclined to leave the area. Good. If she survived she was going to need a ride out of there.

She shut her eyes again and focused on the burning pain in her neck where the dart had hit her. Knowing Hersh, it would have been a fast poison, and used on anyone but her it would have been fatal within minutes. But even Hersh didn't know everything about her.

She focused further inwards, feeling the rush of her blood in her veins, concentrating on the foreign substance oozing through her body. Her right arm and side had gone numb some time ago--a partial map of the poison’s path--and now that she could track its progression through her body she could tell that she didn't have much time before it would be too late to turn it back.

She took a deep breath and began.

* * *

 

_“It isn't fair.”_

_Shaw’s father smiled at her a little sadly. “Very little in life is.”_

_“There's no reason for them to deny me my chance.” She knew she could outrun, outfight, and outwit every other child in her village, and yet the village council had barred her from participating in the sacred rite that all children reaching their thirteenth birthday were allowed to undertake._

_“No, there isn’t,” her father agreed. “They're small-minded, afraid of the things that make you different.”_

_She followed her father in silence for a few paces, contemplating his words. All around them the forest hummed with life, and even though the trail they climbed was steep, she valued every moment she spent out there with her father._

_She knew what he meant. The adults in the village regarded her warily, unsure how to deal with the serious child who laughed at all the wrong times and never cried when a normal child would. There had been...incidents as well. Quarrels and scuffles were fairly common among the village children, but the way she handled them frightened the other children...and their parents. Angry children yelling and throwing tantrums was alright, but the quiet, efficient ways she chose to end the conflicts were apparently an issue._

_Her mother had largely ignored the complaints from the other parents, but had also sat her down and had a long discussion with her about thinking through situations and how others responded to them to learn how to deal with similar situations in the future. People, she'd told Shaw, often do not act logically, and doing so could be seen as an anomaly. And nothing scared people more than something they couldn't understand. It wasn’t necessary for Shaw to learn to act like the others, her mother had explained, but it was essential that she learn how the others acted and why._

_Shaw hadn't completely understood, but she'd watched and learned to mimic the other children as much as she was able, even if she found most of their antics to be completely pointless._

_But the damage had already been done._

_“You told me the things that make me different don't make me good or bad,” she said at last, an accusation in her voice. “That only my choices can do that.”_

_“Because that’s the truth, whether the others believe it or not. Never let the ignorance of others color your understanding of yourself, Sameen.”_

_She stored his words away as she did all of them and didn't ask any more questions until they reached the top of the mountain._

_“This isn't the spirit cave.” She'd hoped that he was sneaking her to it against the council's wishes to give her a chance at receiving a blessing from the spirits (as was her right), but this open clearing definitely wasn't the cave._

_“No, it's not.” Her father stopped and sat down cross-legged on the grass, and then motioned for her to sit across from him._

_She sat, disappointment filling her. There were few things that affected her deeply, but her desire to go to the spirit cave on her thirteenth birthday had been a goal for her for years now, a way to prove everyone wrong. And now she would never have that._

_A gentle breeze swept through the clearing and a smile crept across her face as it rustled the grass around her. Even in her disappointment, her father's blessing filled her with a lightness she rarely experienced. He couldn’t call the winds like in some the stories she'd read, but he could bring a warm wind or a cold gust on command._

_“The power offered by the spirits is a sacred gift, a blessing as we call it, but it comes from the world around you and emanates outwards.” Her father tapped the ground. “It starts out in the world--” He tapped his own chest. “--and is channeled within--” He tapped the ground again. “--and is sent outwards again.”_

_Shaw nodded dutifully. She knew all this, but her father rarely spoke without intent._

_“It is power granted by the spirits only, and it must return to the world once used. We do not possess it. We only borrow it.”_

_“Can it be learned without their permission?” she asked, though she already knew the answer (but maybe, just maybe, she'd been lied to all these years and that was why her father had brought her so far from the village today)._

_“No, without permission from the spirits there is no way to access it.”_

_Shaw’s last remaining hope crumbled._

_“However, there is something else, something separate from the power of the spirits.”_

_Shaw willed herself to patience as she waited for him to continue. Understanding others’ needs and pace was one of the many things her parents had tried to teach her._

_“There is a power drawn from here alone.” He tapped his chest. “It is drawn from within and it stays within. It cannot be sent out into the world like a blessing because it exists only inside oneself.”_

_“What good is it then?” Shaw asked, thinking of her dream to command the winds and tides._

_“It can be incredibly powerful when learned well and used correctly. It provides mastery over oneself. A blessing may allow you to use the powers of the world as a weapon, but this allows you to use the power of your body as one. It is not a blessing. It is a skill.” He smiled at her. “Also it is against the laws of the land.”_

_She returned his smile, suddenly eager. “You can show me how to use it?”_

_“I know only the basics, but I suspect that will be enough to start you on your path. You are brilliant, and gifted with a deep understanding of yourself and your own mind in a way many are not. I believe you will soon surpass my skills.”_

_Shaw soaked in his praise like it was another warm breeze. “Show me?”_

_“I will, but first you must promise me that you will use this skill to protect, and not to destroy. You must be a shield, not a sword.”_

_Her father looked as serious as she had ever seen him, and she stopped to consider his words and make sure she fully understood what he was asking. There would be no showing this skill off to prove the council wrong. It would be a secret, and one that would shape her path in life._

_“I promise.”_

_Her father nodded, accepting her promise without question. “Then close your eyes. First you must learn to seek inside yourself, learn every inch of your own being.”_

_Shaw closed her eyes._

* * *

 

Shaw had been poisoned once or twice before, but those concoctions had been easy to separate and force out of her system. This one was proving more of a challenge.

She could feel her temperature spike as she worked to filter the substance out of every cell of her body. Her body burned through what little supplies of fat it had and drained every available bit of energy as she focused her entire being on the task.

Even if this worked she was going to need days to recover. At the least.

She forced the poison out, feeling it bead on the skin of her neck and arm like sweat. Harder and more she pushed herself until, at last, she could tell the taint was completely gone from her system.

Her skin felt hot and feverish and her head was spinning from the effort, but she was no longer in immediate danger of death. Her body wasn't allowed to do anything without her permission, including die.

She cautiously cracked an eye open to see if she could attract her horse's attention. Maybe she could grab a stirrup and have it drag her to safety. It would hurt like hell, but it would be better than lying there defenseless.

There was a woman petting her horse.

A shock of surprise ran through Shaw. She must have been so deeply turned inwards that she hadn't heard her approach. But maybe this could be her salvation. This woman certainly didn't look like one of Hersh’s assassins.

“I see you’re back with us,” the woman said when she turned to look at where Shaw was lying. She picked up a leaf off the ground and used it to wipe a bit of the poison on Shaw's neck away. She peered closely at it, and then back at Shaw. “This is a fascinating little trick you have here. Perhaps you can tell me about it later.”

Something about the woman wasn’t quite right, though Shaw was at a loss to explain exactly what was causing her unease. She tried to pull herself up but flopped back to the ground. She'd burnt out all her energy and then some.

The woman tilted her head to the side and smiled in a way that convinced Shaw she'd been right to worry.

“You're as weak as a newborn foal, aren't you?” The woman pulled one of her gloves off. “Still, always best to be cautious.”

She laid her hand down on Shaw's other arm and Shaw felt a strange buzzing sensation run through her, as if her blood was fizzing within her. There was a sharp smell in the air and a crackling noise filled her ears.

“I think we're going to have a lot of fun together, Sameen Shaw.”

There was a pinch on her arm and the last thing she saw before she lost consciousness was a pair of brown eyes sparkling with cruel humor.

* * *

 

_Even before she began training with her father in the mountain clearing, Shaw had a wide range of lessons from both of her parents. Her father taught her how to craft things out of wood and leather, how to hunt with a bow, how to seal a house against the elements, how to ride a horse, and a thousand other small lessons._

_From her mother she learned history, geography, how to cook both quickly and elaborately, the basics of metalworking, and, when she deemed Shaw responsible enough, how to fight._

_The first lesson had been a game, or so she'd thought. Her mother had playfully poked at her with a stick she'd found in the yard, and Shaw, irritated, had tried to bat it away._

_“No. Not like that.”_

_Shaw froze, her arm still up in front of her face._

_“Like this.” Her mother grasped her arm and moved it so that she would hit the stick with her forearm down by her elbow rather than the back of her wrist. “And push it to the side rather than up, away from your body.”_

_It turned into a game they played where her mother would try to land a tap with the stick and Shaw would try to block it in a way that her mother approved of. It was a fun enough, but she didn't fully grasp the point of it until the day her mother put a training sword in her hand and Shaw blocked her first attack without even thinking, sweeping the point of her mother's practice blade to one side._

_“Good,” her mother said. She extended her sword arm out and pointed at the tip of her blade. “The end of the blade is weak, without leverage, but here--” She tapped the blade just above the hilt. “--here you have the strength of your arm to rely on. Block the weak with the strong to push the attack aside and take the advantage.”_

_The sword lessons were only the start. After an exhaustive study of a wide variety of sword styles, Shaw's mother started her in on every other weapon she could find in their village. Her time spent serving with the militia had left her with a decent collection of arms, and she described many more that Shaw had never seen._

_All throughout these lessons, her mother made time to teach her how to fight unarmed as well, something she stressed was even more important to know._

_Those lessons started far too slowly for Shaw's liking. She would be required to hold a pose for a long period of time until her legs ached. And then, when she thought she would die of boredom, her mother would signal her and she'd move to the next pose. But even the simplest movement was deceptively complicated. She could not simply take a step forwards, but instead had to shift the weight of her body into the motion so she moved fluidly, placing her foot solidly before transferring her weight to it, her arms flowing from one position to the next._

_Much like the lesson with the stick, she didn't understand the extent to which she was training her mind and body until the day a boy from the village tried to shove her into a puddle. He was new to the area and hadn't yet acquired the fear the other children had of her. In fact it was likely the others goaded him into the act._

_The boy was at least a year older than her, and twice her height, and the rough shove should have sent her sprawling. But habits she hadn't realized had become deeply ingrained in her muscles took over and she stepped back with one foot, rolling her weight back as her arms moved to balance her. She saw the shock and fear in the boy's eyes and realized how she must look to him in this moment. Poised. Ready to strike back from a position of power. This was a fighter’s stance that her mother had taught her without her even being aware._

_She left the boy unharmed because she knew her mother wouldn't want her to use her lessons to hurt him, but she still took a deep satisfaction from the fear in his eyes._

_Later, after her father began his lessons with her on the mountain, it was these early fighting techniques she returned to rather than the more combative ones that followed. Because now, as she shifted her weight and glided smoothly from one pose to the next, she could feel every part of herself, measure the slightest change in balance. She knew where she was weak and where she was strong, and now she had the tools to use that knowledge for so much more._

* * *

 

Shaw woke up deeply annoyed. Her entire body felt off from the toll that extracting the poison had taken on it, her injuries still throbbed, and now she had a headache as well.

At least whatever it was that woman had inflicted on her didn't seem to have done any real damage.

She cautiously opened her eyes and found herself staring not at the forest canopy, but at a solid wooden ceiling. She was lying in a bed, or rather  _on_  a bed, since whoever had dumped her here had left her on top of the blankets. They’d also fastened a heavy manacle around her wrist with a chain that ran over the edge of the bed.

She turned her head slightly to take in the rest of the room. She appeared to be in a small cabin, quite ordinary looking and well-maintained. There was no sign of another person in the room, but there was a kettle hanging over the fire that couldn't have been put on too long ago.

She took stock of herself next. She was still clothed, even her shoes untouched, but her sword was gone from its sheath, and, after a brief inspection, she found that every single hidden knife she carried was gone as well. Damned impressive considering how many of them there were.

The lockpick set she kept tucked inside her jacket had also been removed, and so had her stash of darts. That woman, if it had been her, had been quite thorough.

It took her several tries to sit up, her body still weak from her earlier efforts. Her first order of business was to trace the length of the chain and determine that the second manacle on the other end had been fastened around the lower part of one of the bed posts. The chain was long enough to give her a little room to move around, but far too short for her to reach anything useful in the room, like the kitchen knife on the table or the kettle on the fire. The bed was an enormous thing, carved out of huge blocks of wood and far too heavy for her to move in her current state. Finding something to pick the manacle lock with sounded like a far better plan.

The door to the cabin swung open and the woman from earlier walked in, her eyes immediately settling on where Shaw sat upright in the bed.

“Look who finally decided to wake up.” Her smile was like the one she'd had in the woods, mocking and dangerous.

Shaw chose to remain silent--she had nothing to gain by talking.

The woman took in the stubborn look on her face and tsked. She walked over to the table nearby and picked up a bundle of cloth lying on it. She was careful to stay outside of Shaw's reach when she tossed it over to land on the bed next to her.

Shaw eyed it for a moment, debating her options, before she unwrapped it to find some type of dried meat strips within. She glanced back up at the woman--still watching her with that mocking smile--and then back at the food. She was beyond famished and her body needed the fuel to regenerate itself, but the woman could have done anything to this food.

“If I'd wanted to harm you, I would have done so while you were asleep.”

She made a good point, but Shaw was still reluctant. But when her stomach growled loudly she gave in, ignoring the knowing smirk on the woman's face.

There had been a decent amount of dried meat in the bundle, but it was gone within minutes and Shaw was left still starving.

“You got any more of that?” she asked.

“So you  _can_  speak then. Good.”

Shaw ignored the ominous undertones of the statement. She needed more food, more energy, and then she'd take this woman down before she had a chance to...whatever it was she'd done to her in the woods.

The pinch she'd felt in her arm had undoubtedly been a drug of some sort, probably one to put her to sleep, but the strange sensation from before...that had been something new. It must have been this woman's blessing, though Shaw was unsure exactly what it entailed. She’d need to be careful when she fought her.

“Aren't you going to ask who I am? Why I brought you here?” The woman perched on the edge of the table, her long legs almost reaching the floor.

She was dressed practically, Shaw noted. Her leather leggings and vest would provide at least some defense, while still allowing a good bit of mobility. It occurred to Shaw that the most likely scenario here was that this woman was someone not unlike herself, but working for a different province, or perhaps even directly for the Imperials.

“Where is this?” Shaw asked, choosing a different question just to be spiteful.

“Far enough away from where I found you that the men looking for you will have a hard time tracking you.”

Shaw couldn't tell if that was meant to be comforting or alarming.

“This place yours?”

The woman's smile widened. “Not in the slightest.”

“Whose then?” Her boss perhaps?

“I didn't catch his name. He was quite loud though. I had to gag him before I locked him in the outhouse.”

Shaw hoped that whoever the unfortunate owner of the cabin was that he had friends who'd come investigate if he went missing for too long. Though she doubted they'd pose much of a threat to this woman. She was quite slender and didn't look like she had much in the way of muscle on her, but something in her smile made the hairs on the back of Shaw's neck stand up straight. The woman looked like a predator.

“Really, you're not going to ask who I am, Shaw? I know all about you. You've earned yourself quite a reputation across the provinces.”

“Then you should know that this is probably going to end badly for you.”

The woman didn't look at all concerned and watched her silently, her head tilted to one side.

Shaw gave in. “Fine. Who are you?”

“You can call me Veronica for now.”

Not her real name then. The assassin/spy-for-another-province theory was sounding more and more likely.

“And you chained me to this bed because…?”

The woman's smile changed ever so subtly and Shaw found herself thinking about other reasons to be chained to a bed. Veronica was hardly unattractive, and….

Now was not the time.

“I need to ask you a few questions. Give me the answers I need and I'll let you go. Refuse and--” Veronica got up to get the boiling kettle off the fire, and wrapped a cloth around the handle so she could hold it. “--I can make things very unpleasant for you.” She waggled the kettle back and forth meaningfully.

As far as torture went it was fairly tame compared to some of the things Shaw had seen over the years, but burns hurt like a bitch and she definitely didn't have the energy to heal them now. She could probably manage to redirect the pain, though, spread it out across her body to lessen the intensity.

Root didn't seem surprised by Shaw's lack of response, but she also hadn't come any closer.

“You even going to ask me any questions? That's usually how this works. Otherwise you're boiling my skin off for nothing.” Though from the sadistic glint in Veronica’s eyes, maybe she'd do it just for fun.

“Let's start out with an easy question then, since you're so eager to chat. There was a man you killed a few months ago, Aquino. Do you remember him?”

Shaw remembered most of her assassinations, but that one hadn't been anything special. He'd been leaking information to the neighboring province, information that might have led to a lot of soldiers dying. It had been an easy job and a clean kill and she hadn't thought about it again until now.

“Let's say I've heard the name before.” More than she was supposed to say, but Hersh had tried to kill her so fuck him and his rules. Maybe Veronica worked for the people Aquino had been spying for. It would almost explain all of this.

“Good. Now Aquino was involved in a very special project for your former associates, and I need to know  _exactly_  where his project was located.”

Shaw almost laughed. “Honestly? I have no clue.” And that wasn't a lie--Hersh didn't fill her in on that type of detail. Though it was odd that Veronica wouldn't know if Aquino and her had been working for the same people. Maybe Shaw had been wrong about that.

“Forgive me if I'm skeptical.” Root advanced a little, staying just outside Shaw's range. Her free hand was at her side, fingers clenching and unclenching, possibly getting ready to try whatever it was she'd done earlier again.

“You know,” Shaw said conversationally, as if Veronica wasn't threatening her at all. “There's one thing you probably didn't hear about me in all the rumors.” She grinned. “I kind of enjoy this sort of thing.”

Veronica’s lips curled up into a matching smile, her face shining with delight. “I am  _so_  glad you said that. So do I.”

Shaw exhaled slowly, and prepared herself to strike. It was really a damn shame that one of them was going to wind up dead in the next five minutes. Veronica was the most interesting thing to happen to her in years.

* * *

 

_Shaw had always thought it would be one of the border skirmishes that took her father from her, but in the end it was a carriage turning over on a slippery road. There was nothing she cared to remember about the hour she'd spent trapped under the remains of the carriage. She’d quickly figured out that it was too late for him, and tried to free herself again and again, channeling all her skill into her arms and legs to lend herself more force. Her skill made her stronger and faster than most (though not to extreme extents), and she could briefly boost those abilities further, though, like all things, it came at a cost._

_In the end she had to be rescued from the wreckage by passersby whose attempts to comfort her when they retrieved her father's body only made her want to leave the scene even more. She heard them whispering to each other from nearby, but by this point she was used to it. There were only two people who had never treated her as an oddity, and one of them was dead now and she didn't even have the capacity to mourn for him properly._

_She didn't know how to help her mother in the following days either, but in the end they both found solace in continuing to train together, more hours and more rigorously, both avoiding the issue in their own way._

_Things didn't returned to normal (because that would have been impossible), but they did manage to reach a new sort of normal. And even if it felt unnaturally still when she went up the mountain to practice her skill, there was a quiet peace in the house when she returned after._

_But this new normal only lasted until the next round of border skirmishes drew her mother away from the village as the militia was rounded up again. Shaw was still a year too young to join, so she could do nothing but watch her mother ride away._

_Some part of her knew that her mother wasn't coming back this time._

_When the news she'd expected but hoped wouldn't come arrived, she sold off everything, including the house she'd lived her entire life in. She took the one remaining horse and a purse full of coin and left without a backwards glance. She imagined the villagers had been relieved to see the last of her._

_She headed for the capital, drawn by the stories her mother had told her of the great university there and the libraries full of more knowledge than she could ever imagine._

_There was some doubt as to whether she should be permitted entry to the great school of medicine in the university seeing as she was an unknown orphan from the middle of nowhere, but her coin bought her enough favor to gain access and her intelligence earned her the right to stay._

_For a time, at least._

_Perhaps it had been too much to hope that in the capital any strangeness in her demeanor would have gone unnoticed in the crowd, but the old masters didn't like that a girl from nowhere was so clever and cold. From the looks in their eyes, she could tell that her aptitude threatened them and she knew that she wouldn't be welcome for long._

_Three years later they sent her on her way and she turned to the one thing left that she knew how to do._

_There were always border skirmishes somewhere, as the neighboring provinces were unable to remain civil for long, and while most only fought when their lord or lady governor raised the militia, there were some mercenaries who followed the fighting and made their living in the constant skirmishes._

_It was the best way she knew to honor her promise to her father, by fighting to stop conflicts before they spread and parents were forced to leave their children behind to go defend the borders. But somehow it never felt like she was making enough of a difference, and when she was approached by the Lord Governor's agents, a group calling themselves Provincial Intelligence, and offered a chance to help more directly, she barely needed to consider it._

_It was an odd kind of job at first, as her employers always seemed to know where to send her before the trouble had even started, but odd was her sort of thing and she took to the work like she'd been meant for it her whole life._

_She had to tread lightly with her skill, since it was still very illegal (though almost completely unknown) and even its extreme utility wouldn’t save her if her direct superior, a man named Hersh, found out. She still practiced it regularly and used it in small ways that allowed her to excel at the work beyond what even the agents with blessings could do. It didn't earn her any friends, but then she hadn't actually wanted any._

_She worked for the Lord Governor's network of spies and assassins for several years and probably would have continued without complaint until Hersh just had to go and try to kill her._

_Really it was all his fault that she ended up with the crazy woman in the woods._

* * *

 

There was a loud crash from outside and Veronica looked away, an annoyed expression on her face.

“And just when we were starting to really connect,” she said, and set the kettle down on the table.

She grabbed her cloak from a chair and wrapped it around herself. “A little rude, I know, but we'll do this again soon.” Her face contorted into something that Shaw thought was supposed to be a wink.

Who in the five frozen hells was this insane woman?

Shaw only half-watched when Veronica slipped out a back window in a swirl of her cape. She was far more concerned about whatever it was that had scared her off.

Plus she had a feeling that Veronica was correct and that they'd be running into each other again sooner rather than later.

With Veronica gone, she climbed out of the bed on shaky limbs and searched the area she could reach for anything she could use as a lockpick. There were a few pins in a drawer next to the bed--not ideal for the job but they'd do.

She blocked out the sounds of fighting from outside as she worked steadily at the cuff that was attached to the bed. She could get the other one off her wrist later and right now the heavy chain would make a useful weapon.

Silence fell as the lock clicked open and she waited in a crouch near the door to see who came to find her. She was in no condition to fight, but perhaps she could get the drop on them.

At last, a single man came through the door, his hands raised as if in surrender.

What sort of new trick was this?

“Shaw?” The man had spotted her instantly. “My name is John and I'm here to help you.”

She hit him in the face with a manacle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent a lot of time agonizing over what power Shaw would have. One of the things I love about Shaw so much is that she never needed God Mode like Root and Reese. She was just that fucking good on her own. So I didn't want a power that undermined how fucking badass she was naturally and wanted it to be something she'd developed herself. Her 'skill' power may not be as flashy or fancy as some of the others (you'll see more of Root and Reese's soon), but it's way cooler in my opinion and it's going to evolve in some interesting ways later on.


	2. Blessing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a bit of violence in here that I don't really know how to warn for. Nothing too bad I don't think?

Root woke up in the middle of the night for the third time that week to the now-familiar tingling sensation running through her body. The air around her smelled sharper and her hair was standing on end. She patted her bedding down, searching as best she could in the dark of the woods, and tsked when she found another hole scorched in her blanket.

It was ridiculous--she'd learned to control her powers within days of receiving them and had never had an issue until now.

But it meant she was getting close.

As she packed, she could still feel the current running through her body just under her skin. It wasn't a lack of control, she decided, so much as a boost in capacity. Blessings were doors opened inside people by the spirits to allow access to powers that already existed, but her blessing was a little different--more of an open channel than a door--and now the power that lurked on just the other side was spilling over and through her.

She pulled her gloves on before she saddled her horse, just in case it got shocked and took off. She wouldn't risk being stranded now of all times and she was rather fond of this horse especially considering how deeply irritated its former owner had been when she'd stolen it.

It was probably too dark to ride safely off-trail, but now that she'd given in to her exhaustion long enough to rest for a few hours, she needed to be moving again.

“I'll be there soon,” she said softly into the forest.

She hadn't expected a response after all these years of trying and failing, so the slight flutter in her chest startled her beyond words. She couldn't prove it came from Her, but somehow she _knew_ it did.

“As soon as I can.”

* * *

 

_“Blessings are a gift from the spirits for those among us they deem worthy of their powers.” The teacher in the school eyed her with evident distaste as he spoke, and she saw the other students exchange looks and smirk._

_She hadn't understood the animosity when she was little, but by the time she was twelve she'd become keenly aware of the things she lacked which set her apart from the others--coin being the most obvious. A mother who was remotely stable was another._

_She knew exactly what the others saw when they looked at her: small for her age with clothes twice her size, messy hair but bright, sharp eyes. She made people uncomfortable, though in a very different way than her mother did when she was having...one of those days. Root watched everyone, remembered everything, and made it her business to know things she shouldn't._

_Her mother and her were hardly the only impoverished family in the village--in fact there was an entire group of houses (a generous word for the ramshackled structures) on the other side of the creek--but they were one of the most disliked. Partly due to her mother's reputation, and partly due to the fact that somehow Root had acquired enough coin to buy herself into lessons at the local school._

_It was a rigged system, Root knew. Lessons at the school were provided for free to the children living in the main part of the village, but had to be paid for by the people in the outskirts who couldn't afford it, which guaranteed that the more lucrative apprenticeships and opportunities to study at the illustrious university in the capital always went to those with more money and kept the system firmly in place for the next generation. Really, the people in the main part of the village only had themselves to blame that Root had been forced to rob them to buy her education._

_But even with access to the lessons, she was still seen as inherently inferior. On her very first day of classes a group of the other children ambushed her on her way home and shoved her into the creek, ruining all the expensive paper and books she'd spent so much time and effort acquiring for the classes._

_The other children had laughed while her back was turned when she kept showing up for classes anyway. She got better at ignoring them, and better at avoiding potentially dangerous routes home. And she was careful never to be caught when she retaliated in the only ways available to her: opening a chicken coop in the dead of night, shattering a window during winter, setting a hunting trap that lamed the boy who'd led the group that had pushed her in the creek that first day. She developed a talent for striking back in small ways, though perhaps her greatest revenge was enacted by how she excelled at her studies. No one was laughing when she scored perfectly on her examinations at the end of the winter._

_It was around that time that the teachers started making frequent comments about blessings only being for those found worthy. It wasn't the spirits’ judgment that Root was worried about though. The fee to access the path to the spirit cave was something Root could manage, but the village council had the right to refuse anyone access for any reason._

_Root knew she needed to be granted a blessing, possibly more so than she'd needed the lessons. She had plans for when she got one, great plans, at least one of which revolved around showing the village exactly what she was capable of. She wasn't sure what that would entail yet, but she knew it would be magnificent._

_But there was no way she would ever have a chance at a blessing if she played by the rules, and the others never let her forget it. Adults and children alike all itched to make sure she knew her place._

_Except for one person._

* * *

 

There were no paths that led to where Root was headed, and no guides who knew the way--she was very much on her own out here.

But then she'd been on her own since the beginning, hadn't she?

She wasn't familiar with this part of the province since it was all woods and mountains with no towns or villages within a day's ride. It felt like she'd fallen off the edge of civilization into another world.

The solitude gave her a lot of time to think, and her thoughts mostly ran to the last few months of her search. She'd hit dead end after dead end along the way, each more frustrating than the last. The only progress she'd really made was when that overgrown toad of an outlaw, John Reese, had interrupted her interrogation. She'd been able to track him and her escaped prisoner and spy on them enough to learn that She had sent Reese on that little mission.

Root wasn't sure what She wanted with a former assassin like Shaw, but she couldn't blame Her for Her tastes. Sameen Shaw was definitely a fascinating person.

Shaw was also annoyingly good at her job, which was why Root had been forced to break off from trailing them after the third time Shaw had come close to spotting her. And anyway they'd been headed to the capital, which was somewhere she had no interest in going again anytime soon.

She couldn't help but wonder if she'd run into them again, or at least Shaw. John she could do without.

“What do you need them for?” she asked into the night. Her horse snorted, but there was no other response.

“I know you must have a plan, a plan for all of us. I can help you with it, if you let me.”

She'd spoken to Her so many times like this, and even though She never responded, Root knew She could hear.

“Well, I hope you're more chatty after I find you. There's so much we need to discuss.” Though mostly she hoped She'd talk to her--she didn't expect Her to care about anything she had to say. “Though right now a hint would be...oh.”

She broke off her quiet one-sided conversation when she saw a flicker of light up ahead. Someone else was camping out in the middle of nowhere and she doubted they would be happy to see her.

She tethered her horse to a tree and crept closer on foot, gathering her cape closely around her so it wouldn't snag on the branches. There was a clearing ahead, cradled against the side of a huge hill. She counted seven campfires in total, each with at least five men nearby.

But as interesting as all that was, the thing that drew her attention the most was the enormous, gaping cave mouth on the side of the hill. Even in the dark she could see there was something strange there as the air in front of the opening shimmered when the light from the fires caught it.

She knew without a doubt that She was in that cave. She'd finally found Her.

* * *

 

_“Want to see something neat?”_

_Since the moment when Hanna had chosen to work with Root on a project in their class, Root would have done anything for her, a fact that she was trying very hard to conceal. Hanna was two years older than her, practically an adult, and the most fascinating person Root had ever met. She couldn't pinpoint exactly why she was so drawn to Hanna, but the fact remained that she was once again skipping out on her other responsibilities to spend time with her._

_“How neat could something possibly be in this horrible place?” she asked, congratulating herself on her ability to sound cool and aloof even under the circumstances._

_The circumstances happened to be that she was alone with Hanna behind the candle shop near the creek._

_Hanna looked at her a little oddly. “You're very strange.”_

_Root waited, uncertain if she'd been too disinterested or not disinterested enough. Maybe she should try to look bored as well? Or maybe she should lean in closer and bump shoulders with Hanna? The school had no books about important things like this._

_“Here, give me your hand.”_

_None of the multitude of scenarios Root had imagined for these moments together they shared had included Hanna taking her hand and tugging her closer. She watched, bewildered, as Hanna turned her hand over so the back of her hand nestled in Hanna's palm._

_Hanna's hands were warm and a little sweaty from the hot day. She closed her thumb and middle finger around Root's wrist like a cuff._

_“What are you d--”_

_“Just wait,” Hanna said firmly._

_Root waited, eyes fixed on where Hanna's fingers encircled her wrist._

_A strange tingling sensation started in her arm, so faint at first she thought she was imagining it. But it grew stronger until it felt like her whole arm was gently vibrating with some unseen force. She watched with fascination as the fine hairs on her arm stood up on their own._

_“Do you feel that?” Hanna asked, and she sounded a little uncertain as if maybe she now regretted the decision to share with Root what was unmistakably the power of her blessing._

_“I...yes. It's--” All of the carefully practiced answers Root had thought up earlier had vanished and she found herself at a loss of what to say. “It's incredible.”_

_Hanna's face lit up and Root felt her own cheeks burning. She lowered her head to inspect Hanna's hand more closely._

_“What exactly is it?” she asked. She couldn't see anything, but there were unmistakably little pulses of tingling emanating from where their skin touched._

_“No one's quite figured that out yet,” Hanna said. “It doesn't seem to be particularly useful or dangerous, though sometimes I'll touch something and there'll be a white spark for a second. It scared me the first time.” She peered closely at Root's face. “It doesn't hurt, does it?”_

_Root didn't have the words to describe the sensation. It felt like something that could become painful if pushed further, but at its current level it felt strange and exciting._

_“It definitely doesn't hurt,” she assured her. “It feels nice.” She instantly regretted her word choice. Would Hanna try it on other people if she thought it might feel nice? “I, uh, I mean, it's strange. But not bad strange. Good strange. Like...like.…” She couldn't think of a good comparison._

_“Like you, maybe,” Hanna teased and she pulled her hand back much to Root's regret._

_Root hadn't thought her face could flush more, but she was rapidly learning there were a lot of things she hadn't figured out yet._

_“When you get your blessing next year, what do you think it will be?” Hanna asked._

_“You know that there's no way to know that, right?” Despite all her experiments, Root had yet to fully understand how blessings worked. She'd had some recent breakthroughs, but she still was nowhere near close enough to the answers she needed._

_Hanna looked a little offended. “Well, it's still fun to guess, you know. Everyone does.”_

_Not on Root's side of the creek they didn't. The path up to the mountain with the spirit cave belonged to the village and required a fee to be paid to use it. Families in her area were often unable to come up with the coin required to pay, and even if someone was able to afford it, the village council could deny them access on a whim. She wondered what it must have been like for a child like Hanna who grew up knowing that one day they'd definitely go to the spirit cave. For a child who didn't have to fight uphill the entire way._

_But Hanna was smiling at her, all innocent and friendly, so Root breathed out the surge of anger (anger that was such a constant presence in her life now) and let herself pretend, just for a moment, that she was a normal child with her future stretching out before her, full of possibility. She spent the rest of the afternoon speculating about what her blessing might be and trying to think up reasons to have Hanna demonstrate hers again._

_Three weeks later, Hanna was dead._

* * *

 

Root had counted thirty-seven men total when she finished her careful sweep of the edge of the clearing. There was no way to the cave except through them and just enough of them remained awake that sneaking by wasn't a good option.

The only question that remained was how stealthy she wished to be.

It was within the bounds of possibility that she could take down two or three men silently and then sneak through the opening that left. Alternatively, she could go for maximum certainty and try and take down all of them. It would be a risky move (especially since she had no way of knowing how many of them had blessings and what they were), and would end up in an all out brawl, but after all the weeks and months of sneaking around and avoiding trouble, she was itching to fight.

She ducked down to check the various weapons she had hidden on her person and almost fell over in surprise when she felt the same flutter in her chest from earlier. This time she felt more than that--she felt a strong sense of disapproval.

“You could have just said not to kill them all,” she whispered into the night. “You could talk to me. It'd make this much easier for both of us.”

She was beginning to wonder if maybe She _couldn't_ talk to her.

The overwhelming sensation of disapproval she got whenever she reached for any of her weapons limited her options somewhat. Fortunately, she didn't need a weapon to be dangerous. She pulled her gloves off and stuffed them away in her pocket.

She had gotten quite good at moving quietly over the years, and the guard at the first fire didn't stand a chance. There was a slight crackle and an indrawn breath, and he crumpled into a heap at her feet. She'd been careful not to hit him too hard since She seemed to not want that--just enough to incapacitate him. She crouched next to him while she tied his hands and gagged him. The bright fire illuminating her made her feel overly conspicuous, but no one sounded the alarm.

The whole thing felt too easy, she thought, as she eased the third guard to the ground. Surely any second now one of the others would turn around and spot her.

But her luck seemed to hold as she crept past the fourth fire along the now-unwatched edge of the clearing. Maybe this was all going to go smoothly.

“Hey! Who's that over there? Where's the man on watch here?”

Root sighed. She should have learned by now that nothing was ever easy. She straightened up and turned to face the growing number of alert guards. Looked like she'd get to have that fight after all.

* * *

 

_“I know you're in here!”_

_Root's words echoed through the empty cavern._

_“I've come here, as is my right, and I demand that you deal with me.”_

_She wondered idly if anyone from the village would come after her when they found the bodies of the two men who guarded the path up to the spirit cave. The men hadn't wanted to let her go and she hadn't had a lot of options. She'd never killed anyone before and on the rest of the journey up the mountain she'd wondered if she was supposed to have felt something about that._

_She hadn't been feeling much of anything lately except a cold, quiet rage, like a single ripple spreading out across the surface of an icy lake. Hanna was gone and everyone down there knew what had happened and still they did nothing. Her only friend was dead and right now the one thing left that mattered was making sure every single last person responsible for that suffered._

_“I'm not leaving until you answer me.”_

_~You Are Not Of An Age.~_

_Root's heart sped up at the voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once and also only exist in her head at the same time. Not of an age? The wording was odd, but she could guess what the spirit must mean._

_“I'm a few months shy of thirteen years, but that doesn't really matter, does it?”_

_More and more in her experiments she'd become convinced that age had very little to do with blessings. She thought that maybe she'd have been able to open a doorway within herself on her own given enough time, but she was all out of time now._

_“A girl, my friend, she's dead. A man in the village killed her. I am here to ask for the means to seek justice for her.”_

_~We Care Nothing For Your Petty Squabbles. You Are Not Of An Age.~_

_Root grit her teeth in fury at the word ‘petty’. Why had she expected spirits to be any better than humans? The entirety of all planes of existence were rotten, spirits included._

_Well, she would just have to help herself, like always._

_“If you won't give me what I want, then I'll have to take it.”_

_There was no response._

_She hadn't fully thought through the next part, but the basic idea was that since she'd gotten on the right path to unlocking a blessing for herself, she stood a better chance of seeing that through right here where the spirits were strongest and the barrier between their planes of existence was weakest._

_She sat down cross legged on the floor and shut her eyes. Like she'd practiced so many times recently, she cleared her mind and focused her gaze inwards. She concentrated on an area in her chest and, with her mind, felt along the edges of her own being there, the bits of herself that made her herself. She could feel the weak points in her own being, the one she'd been wearing down over the past few weeks and the ugly tear she tried to avoid over her heart. That one was of no use to her._

_She'd been right, though, it was easier here. She felt like she could open that door a crack now and see past it into the possibilities of the spirits’ powers on the other side._

_~You May Not Take This Without Permission.~_

_She had their attention now. Good._

_“Then give me permission.”_

_She could feel the edges of the channel she was trying to wrench open inside her chest. Maybe she really could do this without the spirits._

_~Very Well.~_

_She didn't have time to be surprised by how easily they acquiesced, because suddenly her insides were ripping apart, making her double over at the searing pain in her chest. It felt like she was being torn to shreds, her being fractured as a chasm within her was opened wider and wider. There was something flowing into her, something that she'd never felt before, a raw, unfocused form of power she realized distantly._

_She was only semi-aware of her own body anymore, just enough to understand that she'd thrown up and that her nose and ears were bleeding. This was wrong, she knew, this wasn't how receiving a blessing worked. Why was she always forced to suffer when others advanced with ease?_

_The rush of raw energy pushed her deeper and deeper into darkness and flooded her mind with images. She saw vision after vision in rapid succession, variation upon variation: she sat in the middle of smoking ruins, then she was elsewhere with a growing pile of bodies at her feet, her shoulder was stabbed with ice, fire rained down from the sky and a single person stood in its midst unharmed, a hand larger than a building curled over her sheltering her, her chest split open and a river flowed from it, she lay in the darkness with another woman by her side far more intimate than she could fully comprehend (though that, some tiny part of her that remained alert thought, answered_ that _question), she was in chains but they were glowing and warm and safe, she was in pain and her body exploded into a million pieces but somehow remained whole, on and on the images went, a million different visions each slightly different than the last, until she thought her mind would break from the rush of them._

_And then they were gone, as was the rush of power through her. She curled up in the sudden darkness, the hole in her, though not a physical injury, was raw and aching._

_~This is not acceptable.~_

_It was a new voice now, one that despite having no real pitch or intonation registered as distinctly different than the last to her._

_~I will give her what she asks for and then she will leave. I will take responsibility for what follows.~_

_If there was further discussion, she wasn't made aware of it. The next thing she felt was a soothing to the ache inside her as the channel within healed around the edges and formed into a smaller opening. This was how it worked, she knew, the spirits could open and one of an infinite number of passages within humans, each a doorway to a different blessing. She wondered which her mysterious protector had chosen for her._

_She blacked out at some point, exhausted and in pain, but sure she would be safe for a little while._

_And when she awoke the spirits were silent, even the one that had helped her. She sat up, ignoring the signs of her previous experiences, and focused inwards again on that new channel within her._

_She felt tears form in her eyes when the tingling spread through her arms and white and blue sparks jumped from her fingers. She'd recognize this blessing anywhere. Whichever spirit had taken pity on her had given her a gift far greater than she'd originally understood._

_And far more powerful and unchecked than Hanna's access to the blessing had been, she realized as she toyed with her new power. This was something she could use._

_She took another hour to familiarize herself with her blessing and then shakily climbed to her feet. She had a village to deal with._

* * *

 

Root was slightly concerned and simultaneously deeply annoyed by the fact she hadn't managed to kill anyone yet. Sure the men rushing at her were being dealt with and ended up on the ground, but they were still breathing. Every time she moved to strike a lethal blow, she inadvertently shied away and went for an incapacitating one instead. It was highly unlike her and she knew _exactly_ what (or who, as the case may be) was causing it and this was definitely a discussion that needed to be had if she survived this.

There were...other ways she could have dealt with all these men perhaps--more definitive ones that would clear the whole area for her--but she hadn't tried something like that since, well, since the night she'd first gotten her blessing, and she didn't imagine that she'd be allowed to actually carry it out. Not if even the attempt to stab someone caused an uneasy twinge inside her that made her adjust her aim to miss the killing blow.

Damn, but that was annoying.

There were a lot of men now that they'd all woken up, and most of them were well-armed. Root was definitely better than any one of them, and almost certainly better than several of them together, but over thirty armed men? A bit too much even for her in direct combat.

She hadn't wanted to use her blessing so openly (it would be unfortunate if reports of a woman with her powers started spreading), but she was out of options. She pulled three small, solid-metal throwing knives from her belt and expertly launched them at the three closest attackers. None of them were deadly, but all three hit their marks.

She took a breath and held up one hand, sparks dancing across her palm. She saw the men in the front react, come to a halt, but it was too late. Lightning sprang from her hand, hitting the three metal knives with unerring accuracy. The arcs of lightning were often fickle and hard to aim, but she'd discovered long ago that sometimes metal could be used to attract them to their destination. A little concentration and guidance on her part and it was almost infallible.

The three men sagged and collapsed, stunned though not dead.

She held up her hand, blue sparks crackling in her palm.

“More than enough to go around, boys.”

She had to be careful though. This was the part where any of them with blessings might step things up.

One man stepped out in front of the others. He had more marks on the shoulder of his uniform then the others, she noted. Probably in charge here. She chose not to wait and struck preemptively. Arcs of lightning shot across the clearing towards her new opponent and...were halted by a solid wall of earth that rose from the ground.

She tsked and tried to circle to the side to see around it. She hated the defensive types of blessings quite a bit--offensive ones were much easier to deal with.

The wall of earth moved towards across the ground seemingly on its own and she had to beat a hasty retreat to avoid being crushed by it. She jumped to the side, narrowly dodging it.

The wall had managed to stay between her and the man, but she'd caught a glimpse of his location when she'd dodged. Now if she could just get the lightning to cooperate….

She couldn't technically shoot it around corners, but she could get the arcs to curve a bit and it was enough to send a massive ball of lightning rolling around the earth wall. She heard screams from the other side as the now wild and unpredictable ball lighting rolled through the forces. She knew she'd hit her target when the wall of earth collapsed.

There were fewer men now and they were scared and disorganized. It would have been so easy to take them all down, but that wasn't her goal here. She turned away from the chaos and hurried towards the cave entrance.

The shimmer she'd seen before stretched over the opening of the cave, a barrier between her and her destination. She slowed to a halt and eyed it suspiciously. She had a feeling it wasn't a great idea to touch it.

That same twist in her chest that had been causing her trouble whenever she'd tried to kill someone flared up again, but this time in warning. It seemed to urge her forwards and she decided the time had come for an act of faith. After all, She had protected Root so long ago, had stitched her back together when she'd been torn apart.

She stepped closer, but her hesitation cost her and a hard weight slammed into her shoulder. Pain lanced through her and she fell forwards through the barrier and into darkness.

* * *

 

_They were waiting for her at the bottom of the mountain. From the looks of things, the village watch had discovered the bodies some time ago and were debating their next move. No one wanted to go up to the spirit cave if they didn't have to._

_She could easily have avoided them, could have taken her new blessing and vanished into the night, but that wasn't why she'd gotten it, now was it?_

_There'd been a few scenarios she'd toyed with on her trip down, some more subtle than others, but now that she was here and saw these men in front of her, already judging her for a crime they could not have known she committed, the notion of subtlety became less desirable._

_Later, when she thought back about the incident, she considered that she might have been a tiny bit more merciful if the main target of her rage had not chosen that moment to appear on the scene. Her range of vision narrowed down to only him, the man who she'd seen walking into the woods with Hanna the day she never came home._

_Blessings took time and practice to master--few could use them to their full potential in under a year--but Root had always been a fast learner and when she reached to access the new pathway inside of her, power flowed out like a thundering river._

_The first arc of lighting missed its target completely, but Root recalculated and, instead of focusing her aim, just spread her attack out over a wider area. There were screams, and the sounds of bodies hitting the ground._

_Smoke rose from the twitching bodies on the ground in front of her, and the smell of burnt flesh mingled with the sharp, raw scent of electricity._

_It wasn't enough, though. She raised her hand and lightning sprang from her fingers again and again until there was nothing left but charred flesh and small fires burning in the grass all around._

_She turned away from the remains to consider the rest of the village. They'd let this happen. It was bad enough how they'd treated her and the other children from across the creek, but they hadn't even raised a finger to help one of their own children._

_She contemplated the quiet houses in the darkness, took in the sight of the village she'd grown up in one last time and then called on her blessing again, pulling more and more potential power into herself until she could see sparks racing along her skin and crackling away into the night. She took a deep breath...and unleashed hell._

_It was the fires that did the most damage in the end. The buildings did a decent job of protecting their inhabitants from the lightning, but the dry grass around the village all caught from the strikes and soon the buildings were burning as well._

_Root watched her village die and marveled at how the anger inside of her had not abated even a little. She wondered if there would ever be a day when it did._

* * *

 

The inside of the cave wasn't as dark as Root had expected it to be. There didn't seem to be a light source that she could locate, but the entire room was glowing faintly with ethereal light. She'd seen something like this once before, back when she'd visited the spirit cave when she was twelve.

It could only mean one thing.

“Hello?” she called softly. She moved a few steps further into the room, trying hard not to jar her left shoulder and the arrow that had gone clean through it. She'd felt a little light headed when she'd first looked down to see the arrowhead sticking out through her body and had resolved not to look at, or think about it until she'd done what she was here to do.

_~You're injured.~_

Root couldn't have stopped the enormous smile from crawling across her face even if she'd wanted to. Even after all these years, she'd have recognized that voice anywhere. She'd found Her.

“That doesn't matter right now. I came here for you.”

_~What do you want from me?~_

“Oh, I don't want anything from you. I'm here to free you. You _are_ trapped in here right?” She moved further into the cave as she spoke. “I knew it had to be you. When I found out that Provincial Intelligence had captured a spirit, I just _knew_ it was you. I don't know how, but it felt so obvious.”

_~A residual link remains perhaps. I can see you more clearly than most.~_

Root had suspected that She could hear her, but it was still a little unnerving. She'd gone to great lengths to make herself invisible to the spirit world. Could She see her because She was trapped on this plane?

“And now that I'm here, I can help you. I can repay you for what you did for me back then. I can free you.”

She'd been looking around the cave for any type of indication of exactly how Provincial Intelligence had managed to contain Her here, but she saw nothing.

_~Spirits were not meant to inhabit the same plane as humans. I do not belong here.~_

“You don't belong locked in a cave either.”

She knew that whatever it was they'd used to bind Her here had to be a physical object (or objects). Blessings were borrowed power, and to have one maintain a prison for so long would have necessitated that the power be anchored in a physical object, something from the natural world.

People with a blessing that could establish anchors were rare and often much sought after depending on the nature of the anchor they could create. While they lacked any combat ability, they could make very powerful items, some of which could be used in combat even by those without a blessing. She'd never heard of an anchor that could bind spirits, but she could understand why Provincial Intelligence might want to keep that quiet.

_~You require a healer.~_

She was definitely feeling a little woozy--shock, pain, and exhaustion, she figured. That could wait, though.

The cave wasn't that large, and while there were a near infinite amount of large rocks around its edges, she knew exactly how to go about finding what Provincial Intelligence had so carefully hidden.

She shut her eyes and reached out with tiny tendrils from her blessing. The faintest trails of electric impulses spread out from her in all directions, searching, and then bouncing back to her with their answers.

It was a rock, she discovered. It didn't look like anything special, but it was faintly warm to the touch. She ran her hands over it, probing it gently with her blessing. She wanted to make sure she disabled it the correct way.

She was almost a little surprised when her fingers left bloody prints on the rock. Despite the searing pain, she'd almost forgotten about the arrow in her arm. It was definitely making it harder to focus. The whole world felt a little unstable, like she was floating on the surface of dark water that threatened to close over her head at any moment.

_~Help will be here shortly.~_

“Help? Who in this world could you find to help me?”

_~Look.~_

Root turned enough to look back at the entrance to the cave. On this side, the shiny barrier over it was opaque, but now there were images floating on it. It looked like a view of the clearing beyond and there was a fight going on. The guards she'd encountered before were hard pressed against two opponents. A man ran headlong into a group of guards and they were thrown back before he even reached them, as if by an invisible barrier.

That was a blessing and technique she recognized--only that blunt instrument of a renegade, John Reese would use a primarily defensive barrier blessing as a weapon. Idiot.

But the second attacker caught her interest. It had been quite a while since she'd last seen Sameen Shaw, and this was the first time she’d gotten to witness her fight. She'd known Shaw didn't have a blessing almost from the start, and yet there'd been _something_ about the way she moved and, of course, that little trick with the poison she'd pulled.

And now, watching Shaw fight, it was hard to believe she really didn't have a blessing after all. She moved so fluidly and efficiently that it was almost like she was dancing. She was faster than her opponents--not unnaturally so, but beyond anything Root had ever witnessed. She watched Shaw duck under the sword of one of the guards and, instead of coming back to her feet, she shifted her weight from her crouch to knock the guard off balance and send him sprawling. Without ever pausing in her movements, Shaw flowed back to her feet and shifted forwards, her entire body behind the thrust that skewered the guard.

Root surfaced from her enjoyment of the fight long enough to wonder why _some_ people were allowed to kill the guards but apparently _she_ wasn't. She turned back to the cave.

“I don't think they'll be too happy to see me.” Possibly an understatement. “And I doubt they'll be in the mood to help me.”

_~They work for me. They will help you.~_

“And why would you help me?” Root asked. It was a question she'd been pondering for well over twenty years now.

When she received no answer, she took one last glance at the fight and then returned to the rock.

“If I destroy this, will it free you?”

_~Why would you free me?~_

“Because you shouldn't be held prisoner at the whim of a few terrible humans. You're not meant to be caged.”

_~And if I were to destroy the world when you unleash me?~_

“Maybe the world had it coming.”

There was a pause and then:

_~What do you want?~_

“I told you, I want to free you.”

_~But what do you want for yourself?~_

Root hesitated, dumbstruck by the question. “I...I'm not sure.” She hadn't thought much past this moment. “To help you, maybe, in whatever comes next.”

_~The last time I granted your wish, a great many people suffered.~_

Root had been wondering if She'd known about that.

_~We will have an understanding this time if you truly wish to help me.~_

The air around Root felt different suddenly--warmer and yet lighter. She could feel Her presence around herself now, like a warm blanket. And...an invitation?

She cautiously sent out a tendril of power to touch the thick air around her and almost gasped aloud at the result. The immense amount of energy that She had surrounded her with was so calm, so peaceful, so unlike everything in herself.

“I'll do whatever you ask of me, abide by any rules you set.” Some traitorous part of her mind reminded her that she was _not_ exactly the best at following rules, but she meant to try and that should count for something.

_~You will always have a choice. But so will I. And your first choice will be what you wish to do with that rock. Smashing it will not work in this case. You must unlock the anchor.~_

“I...think I can do that.” She'd never tried to unravel an anchored blessing before (most could simply be destroyed), but she understood the principle.

_~You are more than talented enough to undo it.~_

It was stated as a fact, not a compliment, but it warmed Root just the same.

The thing with her blessing, she'd learned, was that it was uniquely useful for interacting with the fabric of the world, possibly because of how powerful it was (which she suspected was a side effect of the way she'd acquired it) and how untethered her access to the raw energy of the world was. She could use her blessing to feel along the edges of reality, to sense those who had been opened to blessings (though only through touch), and to hide herself from others who used the same technique. Like the spirits.

Now, she used it to examine the intricacies of the blessing anchored in the stone. Whoever had made this spell was uniquely talented. The binding was an inversion of the fabric of the barrier between the spirit and human world, repurposed at this place to keep Her trapped here, unable to leave and unable to go back. But whoever had set the anchor had been arrogant, quite confident in their superiority, and she could see the flaws in their work. She reached out and _twisted_ just there, and the rock crumbled to dust in her hands.

The recoil from the anchor breaking was instantaneous and shocking. It knocked the breath out of her and left her barely hanging onto consciousness. The throbbing in her arm which she'd managed to ignore for the last few minutes came back twice as strong as before.

“I think I'm going to pass out,” she warned Her.

The presence around her surged and coiled and she felt some part of it align itself with some jagged edge of her being. They clicked into place, joined as if they'd always been meant to be one whole, and she felt her pain retreating to a more bearable level.

_~Rest for now. The others will be here to help you in a moment.~_

She still wasn't sure that was a good thing. “Why would they help me?”

_~You are mine now. They will not harm you, I promise. Now rest.~_

She nodded, too tired and dizzy to do much else and slid further down so she could lie on her uninjured side.

“What's your name?” she asked. “I always wondered, you know. Ever since that day.”

_~I am Machina.~_

“Machina. That's nice.”

She shut her eyes and slept.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's one more chapter with the interwoven flashbacks style (for John) and then everything is in the present day...for what I've written so far anyway. I've been writing further ahead in this than I usually do for fics (mostly due to figuring out how the magic system worked) so we'll see how that goes.


	3. Barrier

“This has got to be a joke.”

Reese silently agreed with Shaw's words--there was some kind of dark irony at work here. He was only half-surprised though when Shaw immediately went over to examine the woman who was lying on the floor of the cave. It was something he'd noticed about Shaw in their short time together--her ability to apply her medical training in a non-judgmental way.

“She didn't even try to take the damn arrow out of her shoulder.”

Reese gave the empty cave one more sweeping glance before he headed over to join Shaw. The woman he knew as Caroline and Shaw knew as Veronica was out cold on the floor. He figured it was probably from pain or shock because she hadn't bled nearly enough for it to be blood loss (and if it had been that she'd have been beyond their help).

“This is really who we're supposed to help? Her?”

Shaw sounded offended and he couldn't really blame her. Caroline, or whatever her name was, had caused both of them significant trouble in their respective first encounters.

Shaw kept grumbling as she pulled her stash of healing supplies from her bag. “This spirit of yours better have a good reason for all of this.”

“It's not _my_ spirit.” He still wasn't completely sure it _was_ a spirit.

“This could be a lot worse,” Shaw said, mostly to herself.

Reese watched her snap off the arrow head and prepare to remove the shaft.

“It'll take a while to heal, and she'll get a nasty scar, but it will heal. Shoulder might get stiff in bad weather though.”

“She's not going to die, then?”

“No such luck.”

Shaw was still bitter about the whole drugging and attempted torture thing, he knew. She hadn't stopped complaining about the woman who'd captured her in the entire time since he'd shown up to rescue her.

It had been a strange few months, but not bad ones considering how the last few years of his life had gone. He and Shaw had struck up an easy partnership and she'd seemed surprisingly unsurprised by the strange circumstances he'd found himself in. He hadn't expected her to want to join him in tracking down the people who needed help, but, as she'd put it, what else did she have to do now? (He also strongly suspected that Shaw actually _wanted_ to help people, despite all her comments to the contrary).

“What do you think is so special about this cave anyway?” Shaw didn't look up from her work when she spoke.

“I was thinking it's a spirit cave.”

“That's what I thought, too. Why would she be here then? She's already got a blessing. And what's with the small army camped out front?”

“Maybe this cave is special?” It didn't seem special to him.

“Doesn't look like much.” Shaw sat back. “Her arm's sorted out. Think we can just leave her now?”

Definitely still bitter.

“I have a feeling we should stay until she wakes up.” There was something different about this little mission. There hadn't been a name in the message for starters.

“I was hoping you wouldn't say that.” Shaw sighed. “Well, it may be a bit. She's really out. Wonder if she was drugged or something.”

“I guess we'll find out.”

Reese found a wall to lean against and settled down to wait.

* * *

 

_In some ways his life had started in a graveyard._

_It was a cold, grey morning and the rain had been coming and going for the last hour and left everyone damp and miserable._

_The man officiating the burial was from the provincial army--a more important figure than was merited by a former soldier, even one who'd been an officer, but the number of people John's father had saved before he'd died had afforded him additional recognition._

_Everyone was crying, drowning in grief, and while John was sad, he also felt as if he'd seen a glimpse of the future._

_“You can be proud of him,” his aunt whispered in his ear. “He died a hero.”_

_It sounded like a prophecy to him._

* * *

 

“Why are you here?”

Reese smiled slightly at the way Shaw chose to welcome Caroline back to consciousness.

“I can hear you.” Caroline struggled to sit up, but the huge grin on her face turned to a grimace and she fell back onto the floor.

“It was your arm that got hurt, not your head, right?” Shaw asked.

“I really wasn't talking to you.”

Reese's brief encounter with her had led him to expect the edge of amused condescension in her voice. Still, a little gratitude would have been nice. Shaw had probably saved her life, or at least her arm. And who the hell _was_ she talking to then?

Shaw didn't seem to care too much. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn't tie you up and leave you for those guards outside.”

Caroline tried to sit up again and failed once more. “Because She says you're going to need my help.”

“She?” Shaw looked back over at Reese.

He had a good guess about who ‘she’ might be, but he didn't like it one bit.

He moved closer so he could watch Caroline's face better. “What's so special about this cave, Caroline?”

“Root.”

“What?”

“My name is Root.” She finally managed to sit up. “And this cave was Her prison, or rather, it was part of it.”

“Her, who?” Shaw glanced up at Reese. “You know what's going on here?”

“The messages we've been getting, the names--” He'd suspected they were from the spirits, but he'd never had any proof. And that last message had sent them here to a cave that Root was implying had a spirit imprisoned in it. The pieces fit together a little too well.

“You've been working for Her for a year now,” Root said. “She's been taking care of you, and now She needs your help.”

“The spirit or whatever that's been doing the water writing shit was trapped in this cave?” Shaw asked.

“We have no way of knowing if that's true.” Reese wasn't about to trust a single word out of Root's mouth. “And even if it was, why would we want to help some spirit?”

“You share the same goals as Her. You're on the same side.”

“We're not on anyone's side,” Shaw said.

Root smiled, patronizingly. “Everyone's always on a side, Shaw, even if they don't realize it.”

“Think I liked you better unconscious.”

“You say the sweetest things.”

Shaw was glaring at Root from a little too close and Root, for her part, had a teasing smile on her face and her lips slightly parted.

Reese felt slightly uncomfortable.

“So what does this spirit want from us?” he asked in the hopes of breaking up whatever the hell was going on there.

“She needs you to help me free Her completely. I thought I had, but turns out Provincial Intelligence was a little more thorough than I realized.”

Shaw finally leaned away from Root. “Free her from what exactly? Spirits live on a separate plane from us and they can't interact directly on this one, right? Does she want us to let her into our world?”

That sounded like a terrible idea. Reese had found out that Shaw was infinitely more knowledge about the spirits and the different planes from research she'd done at the university, but he knew enough to understand that having a spirit on this side would be a bad idea.

Root chuckled in a way that made the hairs on the back of Reese's neck stand up.

“Don't be silly. She's already here.”

* * *

 

_It took him weeks before he got the hang of the basics of his blessing. It was fitting, he thought, that he'd gotten a power so perfectly suited to his life goals--with his shield blessing he could protect others._

_But he grew frustrated quickly. The shield was a defensive blessing, good for avoiding or stopping conflicts. It didn't let him step into the middle of fights and join in. He didn't want to have to wait._

_The answer came to him in the middle of a bar brawl he'd decided to break up, and he felt almost foolish for not figuring it out sooner. Since everyone left in the place was actively fighting, there was no one he could protect. He'd thrown up his shield automatically when two men tried to jump him at once, and it had spread out from him to make a decent-sized invisible bubble around him. Bar furniture went flying as the expanding shield hit it and he watched it thoughtfully._

_He turned to look at the remaining fighters in the bar, who eyed him nervously now that he'd shown himself to have a blessing (and a powerful one at that), and then he braced himself and charged._

_Blessings, he figured, were what you made of them._

* * *

 

“You believe her?” Reese asked Shaw as they watched Root wandering around the cave.

“About which part?”

“Any of it. Why would a spirit choose to talk to her of all people?”

Shaw shrugged. “Spirits are weird. But whether or not I believe her, I definitely don't trust her.”

“Agreed.”

“So what do we do with her?”

Root strode back across the cave towards them, dusting her hands off.

“If you two are finished whispering, we need to move. Those guards outside are dealt with for now, but sooner or later replacements will show up and I'd rather not be here when they do. Although--” She smiled widely. “--I'll have plenty of warning now.”

The very unsubtle hints Root kept dropping strongly implied this spirit was actually speaking to her (or that she thought it was anyway). If it was actually the same spirit who'd been sending him running all over the province rescuing people then he wasn't sure why it'd chose a woman like Root. The little he'd been able to find out about her suggested she'd left quite a body count in her past. He'd wondered if she worked for another province as a spy or possibly even for the Imperials (though they tended to take little to no interest in what went on in the provinces). But then when they'd been fighting the guards outside the cave, he'd seen something he hadn't seen in years that had given him quite a different idea.

“Where are you from?” he asked, not really expecting an answer. Root was certainly less hostile now than she'd been on their last meeting, but she still hadn't told them much.

“From?” Root's smile didn't budge, but her eyes narrowed fractionally. “Nowhere anymore. Somewhere that doesn't exist.”

Shaw snorted. “Whatever the hell that means.”

The answer had only deepened Reese's suspicion, though.

“Bishop,” he said and he saw Root freeze. “You're from Bishop.”

* * *

 

_Being a hero involved breaking an unfortunate number of laws, Reese found out. By his seventeenth birthday he'd been dragged in by the city guard half a dozen times for inciting violence and causing property damage._

_He'd also learned that a lot of people were surprisingly ungrateful for help._

_“I'd think that with a blessing like yours you'd have the common sense to prevent fights instead of starting them,” the captain of the guard said._

_Reese wiped the blood from his split lip away with the back of his hand. “I end fights.”_

_The captain didn't look nearly as impressed as Reese had hoped._

_“Lad like you, your heart's in the right place, but you haven't got a brain in your head. You know what you need?”_

_“A commendation for saving two men's lives?”_

_“Discipline.”_

_The provincial army definitely provided him with discipline, but it didn't allow for much in the way of heroism despite the promise of all the recruiting literature. Every year that went by where Reese wasn't expelled was something of a surprise to him. He was better at following orders than he'd once been, but there were certain orders he would sometimes...mishear._

_And he often enjoyed his work. He had a few glimpses as what another life--a life without violence and death--might look like, and as enticing as they were, there was something safe about the life afforded him as a soldier. Out in the rest of the world, things were complicated and often painful or disappointing. Being a soldier was a simple life. A contained life. A life that gave him a barrier against the outside world, just like his shield blessing held back attacks._

_Even so, he ended up in trouble on a fairly regular basis. Fortunately, he was skilled enough and had a powerful enough blessing that he never got taken off duty for long._

_At least not until he almost killed his commanding officer._

* * *

 

“Bishop? That town that got wiped off the map?” Shaw asked. She sounded curious rather than horrified, but, Reese figured, she hadn't seen what he'd seen. She would have been quite young when Bishop had been wiped out, only eight or nine.

“Don't be silly, John. Everyone knows there were no survivors from Bishop,” Root said and she sounded so convincing that he almost bought it for a second.

“There were quite a few survivors actually,” he said. “Fifty or so. Most lived far enough on the outside of the village that they had time to escape.”

Root shrugged. “A bunch of nobodies. None of them had a blessing so none of them could have been responsible for what happened.”

Shaw looked back and forth between them and he could see her rapidly putting the pieces together.

“Those powers of yours, Root, they leave quite a trail of destruction behind, don't they?” he asked. Those scorch marks and injuries he'd seen on some of the fallen men outside had brought back memories of Bishop. They were quite unique. “And you would have been just about the right age then wouldn't you?”

Root pursed her lips and then shrugged. “I would have been twelve, actually, so there goes your little theory. And we're done talking about the past. Let's talk about the future instead.”

“You wiped out a whole village by yourself when you were twelve?” Shaw sounded impressed.

Reese shot her a look, but Shaw just shrugged, unrepentant.

“We're not working with her,” Reese said. “Any spirit that would choose her as an ally isn't trustworthy.” Though he knew that if those names kept showing up he was going to keep saving people despite all of this. Helping people and cooperating with a murderer were different.

Shaw didn't say anything and after a moment Root sighed.

“She says I'm not allowed to force you to help me.”

“Oh, please. Like you could do that,” Shaw scoffed.

Root ignored her. “I'll be on my way then, though I have a feeling we'll cross paths again quite soon.”

Reese got up. “You're not leaving.”

Root looked curious rather than worried. “Why not?”

“You most likely wiped out a whole town when you were just a kid, and from what little I've been able to find out you've killed a lot more people since, and you've got a spirit helping you. You're way too dangerous to be left running around.”

Root still didn't look the least bit worried. “The spirit helping me part is new actually.”

“All the more reason.” Besides him he felt Shaw stand up as well. He was pretty sure she'd have his back on this one.

Root tapped her lips with one finger. “Hmm, well, I didn't want to have to do this, but…” She twisted her hand towards them and arcs of the brightest light Reese had ever seen crawled across the room towards him so fast he didn't have time to react. He felt like he'd been hit by a solid weight and his entire body dropped to the ground, twitching.

“Well, isn't that interesting.”

He couldn't control his body, but he managed to look around and see that Shaw was still on her feet, unharmed.

How the hell had she done that?

A few paces away, Root was staring at her in absolute delight. “I _knew_ you were interesting.”

“So glad not to disappoint,” Shaw said with only the barest hint of sarcasm in her voice. She ignored Reese on the floor and walked towards Root and he tried to make his mouth cooperate with him so he could warn her off. He'd seen the ruins of Bishop and if Root was really responsible for that then she could do a lot more damage than that one small shock.

“Does this mean you're going to help us then?” Root asked as Shaw came to a stop in front of her.

“I haven't decided yet.”

“Well, what can I--”

Reese barely saw Shaw move. Her fist blurred and connected squarely with Root's face, and Root collapsed in a heap on the floor.

Shaw rolled her shoulder back and shook out her fist.

“She _really_ pisses me off.”

Reese would have agreed if he could have moved.

Shaw finally came over to help him and checked his pulse.

“You're going to be fine, you big baby. Now hurry up and shake it off. I don't want to carry both of you to the horses.”

* * *

 

_“Tell me about this one.”_

_The woman he'd heard the guard refer to as Captain Stanton stopped outside the cell Reese was currently occupying._

_“Broke both his Commander's arms, one leg, and his nose as well, and then tossed him out a window. Normally he'd have been executed by now, but Command said to wait until you lot had a look at them all.”_

_Reese studied Stanton through the bars of his cell, careful not to let his face show anything. She looked far too relaxed for someone standing in the middle of a jail full of condemned soldiers. Relaxed but still alert. There was something predatory and cruel about her face that made him unwilling to take his eyes off her for even a second._

_“You have anything to say about those accusations, soldier?” she asked him._

_“My commander broke a boy's hand and kicked him in the face for stealing. The boy's mother came over to protect the kid and he tried to hit her, too. I stopped him.”_

_“Oh, fancy yourself a hero, do you?”_

_The word sounded like an insult on her lips._

_“That's cute, but it's a lie. There are no heroes, no good guys. Not here. And you?” She stepped closer to the bars and it was all he could do to not step away. “You're definitely not a good person.” She looked over her shoulder at the guard. “What'd you say his blessing was?”_

_“Nearly impenetrable invisible shield bubble around himself. He can make it large enough to protect a few people though his record indicates he'd rather use it to smash into people. And carriages.”_

_Stanton smiled coldly. “The spirits tried to make you a protector, but I see that didn't work for you. Some people are born to be destroyers, John Reese.” She turned away. “He'll do. I'll be by to collect him tomorrow.”_

_“My name is Kara Stanton,” she told him the next day as they left the prison. “And you're working for me now.”_

_His new job with Kara was for a...special group within the provincial army and it allowed him to be a lot more aggressive than the regular army had, but the violence was neatly channeled towards the people that Kara pointed him at. He'd never been the best at obeying orders, but something about Kara Stanton kept him more in check than he'd ever been._

_He was aware, to some extent, that she was shaping him, turning him into a weapon, but he wasn't sure how to feel about that. Maybe Kara was right, maybe the only way to really help people was to become the bad guy, to do the things that others would shy away from doing. Maybe that's what it actually took._

_Two years later, the man who gave both of them their orders gave him special instructions to make sure Captain Stanton didn't return from their next mission. He didn't find out until it was almost too late that she'd received the same instructions about him, and that there was an entire squad dispatched to kill them as well._

_He escaped alive, but he wasn't sure what happened to Kara. Either way it didn't matter. He was done with the army._

* * *

 

“Are these really necessary?” Root rattled the heavy manacles on her wrists.

Reese kept his eyes firmly shut and continued to pretend to be asleep. It was Shaw's fault they were stuck with Root, so she could deal with her.

“You attacked us earlier, so yeah, they're necessary,” Shaw replied.

Not that the manacles would keep Root from using her blessing, but she'd at least have a harder time attacking them with her hands behind her back.

Shaw and Root were both sitting on the opposite side of the fire from where Reese was curled up in his blankets. Shaw had taken the first watch at their new campsite, but apparently Root had no interest in sleeping.

“How did you do that, by the way?” Root asked. “Even your friend's little shield wall couldn't block my power, and you don't have a blessing.”

“You sure about that?”

Reese knew Shaw didn't have a blessing, but he also knew that she could do things she shouldn't have been able to. He hadn't asked her about it though since he'd figured it was none of his business.

“Very sure. Especially since I think I've figured it out. The trick with the poison, the way you fight, and now this ability to absorb my power. That's what you did, right? You didn't deflect it or resist it, you absorbed it.”

Shaw remained silent and Reese risked cracking one eye open just enough to gauge her reaction. Her face could have been carved out of stone, but her eyes were locked on Root.

He couldn't quite get a read on what Shaw thought of their new companion. She'd nearly throttled Root when she'd found out that she'd been the one to steal her horse back when Reese had broken up their first meeting, but he thought that there was more to the way Shaw looked at her than annoyance. He just wasn't sure _what_ the more was.

“I read about it in the university libraries,” Root continued, “a way of channeling your own energy to enhance your abilities, to take control of every fiber of your own being. It could let you shrug off pain, heal your own injuries, and even force poison out of your veins.”

“If that were possible, you'd think people would know about it,” Shaw said. Her voice gave away nothing.

Reese actually _had_ heard about it, briefly in his training. The ability Root was talking about was extremely rare due to how difficult it was to learn and it was also highly illegal. He'd sort of figured it was only a myth since he'd never run into anyone with it before, but now that he thought about it, it seemed obvious with regards to what he'd seen Shaw do.

“The part where you absorbed my powers, though, that wasn't in any of the things I read. Where'd you learn how to do that?”

Reese hadn't seen that happen, but the previous week he'd seen Shaw take a hit from someone who had unleashed a blast of burning hot air at her and come away uninjured. He thought back to how she'd seemed to gain so much more energy later in that fight. If she could really absorb powers like that then she was way deadlier than he'd realized.

“Maybe I found a better book than you did,” Shaw responded. “How'd you get into the university libraries anyway?”

“Paid for a year's admission. I never took any classes. I only wanted access.”

“The teachers there must have _loved_ you.”

Root laughed quietly. “They weren't my biggest fans.”

“Mine either.”

Reese wished he wasn't pretending to be asleep so he could mock Shaw for bonding with someone.

“Was that where you learned how to use it? In the libraries?” Root asked.

“No.”

Not bonding enough that she'd give anything away to Root, though, Reese was pleased to note.

“If you really can absorb the power of blessings...well, I've got the strongest blessing in the world. Imagine what we could do together.”

“Thought you already had a partner.”

Reese mentally nodded in approval. Turning the conversation back to Root's connection with the spirit was a good move.

“She's more like my boss.”

“You find that job on a flyer on the town board?”

“Not exactly. I went looking for Her, actually.”

“And how did you know she existed?”

“Did you know,” Root asked, “that you've been working for Her for years now? Your obnoxious friend over there was too, though less directly.”

“I'd wondered about that.”

She had? Reese was lost. He'd been taking orders in the army before they'd almost killed him, not working for some spirit.

“Provincial Intelligence got their information from somewhere for those missions, but I could never figure out how they did it. Even if they'd captured all the right people and gotten them to talk, it didn't make sense.”

“They got all their information from Her. It's what they trapped Her for in the first place.”

“Is that how you knew about her? You found out what Provincial Intelligence was up to?”

“No, not exactly. I think I'm done talking about my connection to Her though, at least until these come off.” There was the clink of the manacles again. “I'm not against these in...other circumstances, you know, but maybe not with the big lug sleeping right there.”

“If you're done talking then go to sleep.”

“You don't enjoy my company?”

“No.”

“Whatever you say, Shaw.”

They stopped talking after that and Reese finally fell asleep.

* * *

 

_He felt lost after his abrupt departure from the provincial army. There were parts of his life from before that he went back to look for that were just...gone. Things that had slipped through his fingers in his absence. Wrongs that there were no good way to right._

_And some things that demanded retribution._

_And yet even when all the dust had settled, all he felt was tired. Defeated. In the end he'd accomplished nothing, protected no one._

_There was nothing of his former life left for him, and no real future life to strive for. He took what little he had and set out into the wilds with no plan to return. Whatever fate he met out there would be the one he deserved._

_A few months into his retreat from the world, he had a very odd experience while getting a drink from a creek. The creek was slow running and had few enough rocks and branches in it that the surface was mostly smooth. When letters started appearing on the water's surface, he froze and the water cupped in his hands trickled out between his fingers as he stared._

_The words didn't make sense at first, but he had enough sense to hastily scribble them down on a piece of parchment before they vanished. When he set up camp that night and looked at them closer, he realized they were map coordinates and a name. He considered ignoring the obvious implication of the message and going about his business, but as he didn't really have a business he instead set off to see what the fuss was._

_The first person the messages in the water sent him after was a woman imprisoned and due to be executed in a small village near the border. He didn't quite know what he was supposed to do about the whole thing, but he was curious enough to poke around. When it became clear to him that the woman was innocent, he figured that the sender of the message had intended for him to save her._

_He still wasn't sure why he had._

* * *

 

“I think we need to hear her out.”

Reese stared at Shaw. “Hear her out? And you said I'm the one with bad ideas.”

“That's because you are.” Shaw glanced back towards the campsite where Root was idly weighing one manacle in her hand. “Listen, this spirit that sent us to find her, it's been having us save people, and even before that it was helping Provincial Intelligence prevent some really bad shit from happening. I think it's worth at least finding out what it, she, wants us to do.”

It sounded so logical when Shaw put it that way, but Reese still itched to refuse. He'd been to Bishop not that long after it had been destroyed. They'd been sent in to do an investigation and that was where he'd seen those scorch marks on the grass and the neat white scars splitting trees in half. Root was dangerous and she'd be a threat every moment she was with them, even with Shaw's ability to ignore her blessing.

But. But Shaw was right. If this spirit was really what had been sending him messages then it had helped him save a lot of people. This spirit was protecting people who couldn't protect themselves, and that was something he could understand.

“Fine. Let's hear what she has to say.”


	4. Spirits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's a good bit of info dump in this chapter. hopefully i kept it interesting.
> 
> possibly exciting news: this is going to get a rating bump to E in a few chapters. i figure i won't flip the rating until we get there, but it's happening. i'll mark off the smut so it's easy to skip for those who want plot without porn (and easy to find for those who want porn without plot).
> 
> i have no clue if i'll be able to continue writing at the rate i've been going since i gotta go back to work on monday. i have through chapter 7 written so far.

“You can fill us in while we ride,” Shaw said the next morning.

Root raised an eyebrow. “And just where are we riding to?”

“We need to pick up a friend of mine.”

* * *

 

“How much do you understand about how blessings work?” Root asked as their horses stepped carefully through the tangled forest.

Shaw had decided it might be wise to keep them off the roads for the time being since they'd incapacitated an entire unit of guards at the cave. Neither of the other two had disagreed which made her a little suspicious since Root and Reese had disagreed about everything since they'd gotten up this morning. At least now that they were underway their bickering wasn't actively hindering things.

“Quite a lot,” Shaw said. She'd spent a great deal of time researching blessings in the university libraries, though she figured she still didn't know as much as Root would with an actual spirit talking to her. “But by the time we sort out which of us knows what we'll be there already, so just explain it like you would to a soldier trained to use their blessing maybe.” That would make sure that her explanation made sense to Reese as well without Shaw actually mentioning Reese.

She'd been with these two together less than a day and she was already ready to shove them both in a river.

“Hmm, well, the basics are obvious, of course. Anyone can go to one of the spirit caves at any time for a year following their thirteenth birthday and request a blessing. Not everyone gets one, of course, and many are so weak or useless that they're worthless.”

“Okay, this is probably a little too basic,” Shaw said as she brushed a branch out of the way. “Kids know this by the time they're five.” She was a little disappointed when the branch failed to swing back and smack Root.

“Have you ever wondered why some people get stronger blessings than others?”

After all her time in the libraries, Shaw had concluded that humans didn't actually know that much about spirits and how blessings worked. A lot of it had been imaginative or willful guessing.

“People in charge would have you believe it's based on who the spirits find worthy,” Shaw said. Based on what she'd seen in the world though, if that were true then the spirits had some explaining to do.

“Yes, well they'd be wrong. Sort of. From what I've gathered it's got far more to do with who they think will actually be able to use blessings to their greatest potential. For example, your bumbling friend over there probably got a stronger blessing because the spirits sensed he was likely to run around smashing into things like an idiot.”

“If yours is as strong as you say, does that mean the spirits could see you were going to be a mass murderer?” Reese asked from the back of the line of horses.

“The spirits can see a near infinite number of possible futures, but I think it's safe to say that the way I received my blessing was a bit...unusual.”

“You were twelve?” Shaw prompted. She'd grown to be glad of the fact she'd never gotten a blessing, but some tiny part of her was still a little resentful that Root had gotten one early.

Root hesitated for a second, before finally confirming Reese's suspicions about Bishop. “Yes, which normally would mean they wouldn't give me one, but I, ah, persuaded them to.”

Shaw risked a look back over her shoulder at Root. “Persuaded how?”

“Unimportant at the moment. Now, when someone receives a blessing it's like...opening a door inside them. The wider the door is open, the more power the person can channel through at once. For strong blessings the door is sometimes even three fourths of the way open.”

“Let me guess, yours is the only one that was ever fully opened,” Reese said a bit snippily from the back.

“I think, to follow the door analogy, it would be fair to say my door got blown off its hinges.”

“How?” Shaw asked before Reese had a chance to make another snide comment.

“Part of the entire process of how I got my blessing early. The important thing here though is why. Why do spirits give us blessings in the first place, and why does it benefit them to give stronger ones to some people?”

Shaw had wondered that a lot herself. “My guess was always that it helped them somehow. No one gives away something for nothing.”

“When we breathe in, the makeup of the air we breathe out is different, right?” Root asked. “It's similar to that. The power we use in blessings is pulled from the world around us in a form that is incompatible with the spirits' plane. Once we use it, it dissipates back into the world, but it's very slightly changed and the new form is one that can slide between our plane and theirs. They can feed off that new form of energy.”

It was interesting, Shaw thought, but she wasn't sure what it had to do with anything else. Still, Root was talking quite freely now and she intended to encourage that. “Won't we run out someday if they're sucking it all away?”

“No, because it gets replenished on our side. It's...well, for now let's just call it an energy that’s created by life. And by death.”

“Why can we only access it at the age of thirteen then?”

Root laughed humorlessly. “That part is an outright lie. Technically the spirits need us far more than we need them. They need to feed off the energy we provide them, but blessings, however useful, aren't necessary to the survival of our species.”

“You're saying they're parasites.” All this was just making Shaw more glad she didn't have a blessing. She didn't like the idea of feeding some otherworldly leech.

“More or less. It’s in their best interest to keep us respectful and compliant, so they make arbitrary rules and don't give everyone a blessing so it's seen as a privilege. And, of course, the spirit caves are strategically located to help incite wars between the provinces.”

“Wait, what?” Reese sounded truly startled.

“Have you never noticed how the border towns are far more likely to have spirit caves than the ones further away? Why would a little village like Bishop have its own after all? Human memory is short and fallible and we've forgotten that the caves showed up _after_ the towns were built.”

Shaw was liking all of this less and less by the moment. Her mother had been killed in a border skirmish over territory related to spirit cave location, as had a number of people she'd fought with over the years. And now Root was saying it was all orchestrated by a bunch of hungry creatures from another world that were semi-worshipped here.

“You didn't find all this out in the libraries,” she said. “No way is this something humans know about. Your spirit buddy tell you?”

“I guessed a lot of it over the years through the experimentation I was doing with my blessing, and She confirmed my suspicions and filled in some blanks for me.”

“And why would she do that? Wouldn't all this benefit her as well?”

“Not everyone approves of a corrupt system just because it benefits them, Shaw. Just most people, or spirits in this case. She's...different.”

If this spirit was really the one directing them to save the lives of random nobodies then she definitely was different, though Shaw was still stuck on the why of it.

“It's possible for any living thing to act against its nature if it wishes,” Root continued as if she'd heard Shaw's thoughts. “And She decided that doing terrible things simply because She could wasn't something She desired.”

A memory surfaced in Shaw's mind of the day that boy had shoved her and she could so easily have turned his cruelty back on him and hurt or killed him. She knew why she hadn't, but what could sway the will of a spirit?

Reese beat her to the question.

“What made her decide that?” he asked. “Did she just wake up one day and realize that making an entire race murder each other for her benefit might not be a good thing?”

“I think She always had her reservations, but, well, maybe She saw something She couldn't condone from a little too close up.”

There was more to that story than Root had said, but Shaw got the impression that she wasn't going to share more right now.

The discussion got put on hold when they took a quick break for lunch. Root wandered off into the trees a little ways and appeared to be having an extensive conversation with herself.

“Not worried she's going to run off?” Reese asked as he adjusted the saddle on his horse.

Root had removed the manacles herself sometime during the night much to both their annoyance.

“I think she wants us to help her, or this spirit does anyway, and she's not going to run off while we're listening to her. Not yet anyway.”

Reese nodded in agreement. “You believe all that stuff she told us?”

“Not sure I'd stake my life on all of it, but a lot of it rang pretty true with what I've seen.”

“The best lies contain a little bit of truth.”

Shaw couldn't exactly argue with that, but….

“When I worked for Provincial Intelligence, they were getting their information from somewhere. If it was really this spirit then not only did it save a ton of lives, but it was never wrong. That would be a powerful ally to have.”

“It would.” Reese still looked skeptical.

“And what the hell else are we gonna do? Both of us are wanted dead by the provincial government and probably the imperial government as well assuming they even know who we are, so our options are pretty limited. Guess I could go back to mercenary work, but with what she just told us that's not very appealing.”

Reese looked troubled but he didn't argue the point. “There were a lot of dead people in Bishop, Shaw.”

She didn't have time to respond to that because Root wandered back over to them.

“How far away is this friend of yours?” she asked as she fiddled with one of the stirrups on her horse's saddle. She was now riding the horse Shaw had been riding up until today since Shaw had reclaimed her original horse. That horse had probably saved her life during her escape from Hersh and he deserved better than Root as an owner. She was still deciding on a name for him. And maybe a more appropriate saddle--something majestic and threatening.

“We can probably get there late tonight if we don't stop to make camp. Otherwise early tomorrow. Why, we going the wrong way for your spirit?”

“No, we're actually headed in the right direction.”

Root prepared to climb back up on her horse, and Shaw smirked at the way Reese automatically moved to give her a leg up (which she ignored despite her injury).

“Is this mysterious friend of yours going to go along with whatever you decide?” Root asked once they started out again.

Shaw almost laughed. “I don't think that will be a problem.” She didn't have to check to know Reese was probably amused, too. He'd never met her friend, but they'd discussed making this little stop before.

Root looked a little put out when Shaw failed to elaborate further, but Shaw figured it served her right.

They rode along a narrow path on the side of a mountain for the next hour that made it hard to carry on a conversation, so Root's explanations were briefly put on hold. Shaw used the quiet to sort through her own thoughts.

“Can you prove that this spirit is talking to you?” she asked once they were back on flat ground.

Root tilted her head to one side as if in thought. “When you were fourteen, you broke three of your fingers during one of your training sessions with your father. He taught you how to splint them yourself. Also, She can't be sure, but based on your reactions at the time, She believes it was the first time you used your...skill She says you call it, to reduce the pain you were in. Impressive for a child. After that, your father--”

“Enough.” It came out a little more sharply than Shaw had meant it to. Those were private memories. Even her mother hadn't known the specifics of her training with her father. She didn't like the implication that every parasitic spirit out there would know every detail of her life like that. However, she had to admit that that level of information would be extremely useful. “So these spirits can see everything, everywhere?”

Root's smile was entirely too smug. “Almost everything.”

“Then how'd she end up trapped by Provincial Intelligence?”

Root pressed her lips together into a thin line. “She hasn't told me all the details, but I think the other spirits were involved. She's been trapped here for years now with very little ability to communicate with the outside world.”

“And once you finish freeing her, she'll what? Go back to her own plane and pick a fight with the other spirits?”

“That's not how it works, Shaw. A spirit getting sent to this plane of existence is a one-way trip. We can free Her on this plane, but She can never go home.”

“Then what will she do?”

“Protect us from what's coming.”

Shaw was getting fed up with having to pry answers out of Root. Wasn't Root supposed to be selling them on this? “What's coming then?”

“She hasn't told me yet, but...I think She's scared.”

* * *

 

The unrelenting pain in Root's shoulder flared up with each step her horse took. It was even worse when no one was talking and she had nothing to distract herself with. Outside of questions about Machina and Root's motivation, Shaw didn't seem particularly inclined to chat with her, and even if she'd been willing to talk to John, his open dislike of her made her think it would be a one-sided conversation.

Fortunately, Machina had been keeping Root's mind occupied with an almost steady stream of information. Nothing She was saying was necessarily vital information (there was a good deal of history about how the mountain pass they were riding through had been constructed), but Root basked in Her attention and carefully filed away every word She said. She almost wished the other two weren't around so she could talk to Her more freely.

There were some topics that She wasn't very forthcoming on, like any and all personal questions about the other two. She'd given Root some background on both her new companions and that little story to convince Shaw, but beyond that She seemed determined to maintain their privacy.

“Can you at least tell me something about this friend of Shaw's we're going to find?” she asked quietly.

She didn't get a response. Machina, she'd come to realize during their short time together, regularly got out of answering questions by ignoring them or changing the subject. Very unfair of Her.

“Is this side trip something we really have time for?” she tried. “You said that time was critical now.”

_~ It is on the way. And it will help earn their trust.~_

Root couldn't argue that earning their trust would be valuable right now. Shaw always kept an eye on her and Reese looked poised to attack if she so much as breathed wrong.

“I don't like the thought of you staying locked up any longer than you have to.”

She'd thought that the cave she'd tracked down had been the only place that Machina was being anchored, but she'd been quite wrong about that. It had been foolish of her to underestimate Provincial Intelligence like that. And there was also the rapidly approaching threat that Machina had mentioned but had not as of yet gone into detail about.

_~I am more free than I was because of your actions. I do not have much freedom to act, but Provincial Intelligence’s control over me is now very limited.~_

Root was glad to hear that, but she wanted Her fully free, the sooner the better. After all, Machina had freed her in a way all those years ago, so the least she could do was return the favor.

“We're stopping here for the night.”

Shaw's voice brought Root back to the present situation. They'd come to a halt in a little clearing in the woods. The sun had started to go down without Root even noticing.

“I thought we were going to try and make it all the way to your friend tonight.”

Shaw dismounted her horse with casual grace. “No, I said it might be possible, and it wasn't. Not safely. So we camp here tonight and finish our trip in the morning.”

Root would have protested, but her arm was aching and she felt completely exhausted from all the excitement of the last few days. She did her best to care for her horse herself with only one good arm, but Shaw must have gotten impatient watching her because she came over to bat Root's hands away and deal with the saddle cinch herself. Root fought down a tiny flare of annoyance--she'd managed just fine before through other injuries and didn't need anyone's help with something so simple--but Shaw's face didn't betray even a hint of sympathy. If anything she looked put out that she had to help, and _that_ was something Root could work with.

“Thanks for giving me a hand, Shaw,” she said softly enough to make sure John wouldn't hear. “Maybe I can give you one later.”

Shaw shoved the heavy saddle into her arms with a glare. Root tried to hide her wince as she jostled her hurt arm to grab it.

Shaw didn't look even slightly remorseful, but she did sigh and say, “Guess I'd better take another look at that arm.”

Root managed to delay having Shaw prod at her injury until after they'd eaten. John decided to play the gentleman and sat on the far side of the little clearing they were in with his back turned since she had to strip off her vest and tunic for Shaw to properly get at the bandages.

“Think I'd better restock on supplies when we get there,” Shaw said as she carefully tugged the bandages back. “Can you try to get hurt somewhere easier to bandage next time?”

“I'll do my best.” Root swallowed a pained whimper before it could escape. It had been years since the last time she'd gotten shot with an arrow and she'd forgotten how damned painful it was. At least this time the arrowhead had gone through cleanly; last time she'd had to have someone remove it from her leg and she _never_ wanted to go through that again.

Shaw was surprisingly gentle though, her fingers skilled and quick against Root's back as she examined the wound. Root knew enough about her past to know she'd studied healing at the university before she'd been a mercenary and she couldn't help but think that Shaw would have been very good at it.

Shaw moved around to examine the exit wound. Root stared down at the top of her head as Shaw leaned in to check the wound. Her breathing hitched when she felt Shaw's breath on her skin. She thought back to Shaw fighting in the woods the other night, muscles shifting under her skin as she moved, fluid and deadly.

She was only half thinking when she reached out to tuck a piece of Shaw's hair that had escaped from the tail she had it back in back behind her ear. Shaw's hand shot out, faster than Root had thought any human could move, and caught her wrist in a vice-like grip.

Root inhaled sharply and a thrill of excitement ran through her as she met Shaw's eyes. Shaw was definitely glaring at her, but there was something else there, too, something excited and hungry. Root strained against Shaw's hand which tightened automatically around her wrist. Root couldn't help the pleased smile that formed on her lips.

“Something you wanted, Shaw?” she asked in a voice the was slightly too eager for someone who'd just had a very painful wound being poked and prodded at.

Shaw dropped her wrist and sat back.

“Keep your hands to yourself or I'll put the manacles back on.”

“Sounds fun, but we should probably send John away first then.”

Shaw didn't dignify that with a response and finished treating her wound in determined silence.

* * *

 

Root felt a little stupid when they reached their destination the next day. She'd been here before, of course, but they must have come in from a different direction because she hadn't recognized where they'd been heading.

“Are you sure it's safe for you to be here?” she asked Shaw from the hill above the town. “They did try to kill you fairly recently if I recall, and if you go down there they'll know you're still alive.”

Shaw failed to look concerned. “Oh, they already know. And I'm only here for a brief visit.”

“As much as I hate to agree with her,” John said, “maybe this is a bad idea.”

Provincial Intelligence had their main headquarters in the capital (secret headquarters, of course, not that that had stopped Root from snooping), but they owned most of this town as well to use as an outpost and home for many of their agents.

Shaw stood up from her crouch. “I'm going down. You two are welcome to stay here.”

“We can't leave her with the horses,” Reese said. He still had a habit of talking as if Root wasn't there, which she assumed was probably to annoy her.

“Sounds like you just volunteered for horse duty then.” Shaw turned to Root. “You coming with me or staying here to bug Reese?”

“I must admit that both are tempting, but I think I'll tag along with you.”

Shaw pulled the cowl of her heavy cloak up so it threw shadows across her face. “Let's go then.”

Root had expected Shaw to stay silent on the walk down and she was genuinely surprised when Shaw asked, “So, you gonna tell me how you knew what this place was? Because I don't think my former employers are exactly giving out the location.”

“I was passing through once.”

It was a little more complicated than that, of course. She'd tracked Machina's connection to a man named Aquino who had done extensive research into anchor blessings and then died under mysterious circumstances. That had led her to Provincial Intelligence who specialized in mysterious disappearances and ultimately to Shaw who had been assigned that little task. After that it had only been a matter of following Shaw when she left on her next mission and waiting for her opportunity.

She'd thought she'd missed it when Hersh had tried to kill Shaw, but then Shaw had gone and done that fascinating trick with the poison.

“Were you stalking me before?” Shaw asked.

“Certainly not.”

Shaw pulled the cowl of her cloak down even further as they entered the town. “I know how to get there through the back streets, but stick close to me in case we run into someone who recognizes me.”

“My pleasure.”

Root also knew how to get to Shaw's former house by the back streets, but she was careful to let Shaw lead the way. She was a bit surprised when they didn't take the path she expected though, and then concerned when she realized where they were actually headed.

The long, flat building near the edge of town served as both a headquarters and training facility for Provincial Intelligence and was swarming with its agents. It was the last place in the world Shaw should go.

_~I can help.~_

“Shaw.” Root waited until she had her full attention. “I can get us in there safely.”

Shaw's eyes narrowed. “How?”

“Trust me.”

Shaw looked at her blankly for a second and then turned away to continue forwards.

Maybe it was a bit too soon for trust.

“Remember how I told you She can see almost everything?”

Shaw hesitated. “You saying a spirit is willing to help me break into Provincial Intelligence? Why?”

“Gesture of good faith? A thank you for the lives you've helped Her save? Or maybe She just likes you.”

Shaw still didn't look quite convinced.

“Think of it as a chance for Her to show off what She can do then,” Root said. Machina had been quiet since Her offer to help so Root guessed maybe She had faith in Root to convince Shaw, which was...interesting. “She's asked for your help, so let Her show you what we bring to the table.”

Shaw considered that silently and then shrugged and motioned for Root to pass. “Lead the way then.”

It was the first time Root would be following Her instructions this directly and she felt a little thrill of excitement run through her as She started to speak. This was what she'd been waiting for all those long years she'd searched for Her, this connection.

_~Turn right up ahead. Count to five and then cross to the alley on the other side of the street.~_

Her instructions were simple and She didn't waste time explaining the why's and how's which meant Root got to see the reasons for her decisions unfolding around them.

A group of people who were almost definitely Provincial Intelligence passed by them during the five seconds they waited and another group rounded the corner as they ducked safely out of sight into the alley. They skirted around the edge of the building, dodging guards with unerring accuracy. Root felt a heady rush of power from following Her instructions--Machina had chosen _her_ for this, someone who had grown up being told she was unworthy of even having a blessing and now here she was as the actual embodiment of a spirit's will.

Shaw's expression let show very little at all, but even so, Root could tell she was impressed.

“She says you can get this open?” Root nodded at the window they were near.

“Yeah, not a problem.” Shaw pulled out a small flat piece of metal and wiggled it into the crack at the bottom of the window. After a second there was a click and Shaw slid the window up and open.

“Once we're inside She says we'll need to move fast and quietly,” Root said as she shimmied up onto the window ledge as best she could with an arrow wound in one arm. “So follow me, and no talking.”

She half-expected Shaw to roll her eyes at the order, but she only nodded like it made sense to her. Good to know that whatever grudge she still held against Root hadn't made her unreasonable.

The room they climbed into was a dusty, empty bedroom.

_~The man who sometimes lived here died recently. No one comes in here anymore.~_

Shaw frowned as she looked around the room, but she didn't say anything. Root wondered if she'd known whoever it was who'd lived in this room. Did she know that he was dead? She filed the situation away to think about later and headed towards the door.

Machina led them down an empty hallway and around a corner towards a door that appeared to lead back outside. Root wished She had just let her know what the full plan was ahead of time so she knew where they were headed and why they'd needed the come inside to go back out, but her question was answered soon enough when the door led not to the street, but to an area with high walls full of animal cages. Root had a sudden suspicion.

“Did we come here to rescue your _pet_?” she hissed in a whisper. Shaw already had John trailing along after her, wasn't that enough?

Shaw pushed past her towards the pens. “I like him a lot more than I like you, so watch it. Also he's damn good at tracking and Reese and I could have used his help several times.” She stopped in front of one of the cages and reached out to hold the heavy-looking lock in her hand.

“What sort of lock is this? Looks like I could just break it in half.”

Root looked over her shoulder at what appeared to be a large piece of stone on a metal wire threaded through the cage door.

“Shaw, maybe don't--”

Shaw smashed the stone lock against the door and untangled the wire.

Root could only watch in bewildered amusement as a huge brown dog flew out of the pen and Shaw dropped to her knees to scratch his neck. Shaw's face was lit up in a way Root had never seen before and maybe this side trip made a little more sense now.

_~You have to move now. They're coming.~_

That damned lock must have set off some type of alarm. She'd thought it had looked suspicious. “Shaw, there's company coming. We have to go.”

Shaw got back up. “Fine by me.”

Root had been a little worried that the dog would slow them down, but he seemed to be relatively well-trained and content to trot along quietly at Shaw's side as they re-entered the main building.

_~They're coming from both directions now. There's no way to avoid them easily and the other doors in this hall are locked. You'll need a diversion.~_

“How many? I'm sure we could--”

_~Do not kill them unless it is the only option.~_

Root sighed. “Really? Fine.”

Shaw was looking at her a little oddly but she only said, “You two got a plan, or am I getting us out of here?”

“Diversion. I think I can--”

“Can't hide?”

“The doors are all locked here.” She needed a lot of metal. Or water maybe. Or she could always start a fire.

Shaw turned to the nearest locked door and jiggled the handle. “Hmm.” She rolled her shoulders back, assumed a look of intense concentration, and shoulder-slammed into the door with the force of a small but determined boulder rolling down a hill.

The door exploded inwards and Shaw nodded in satisfaction. She turned back to Root. “You coming?”

Root was so busy gaping at the remains of the door that she almost didn't follow Shaw into the new room before other people rounded the corner.

“Usually I'm all for subtle, but this place could stand to have a few doors broken down,” Shaw said as she examined the lock on a window. “Now, does she have a good way for us to get out of town?”

The window wasn't high enough to make jumping a huge problem, except for the fact that Shaw's dog wasn't a fan of the process. Root waited worried and impatient on the ground below while Shaw tried to convince him to jump out. Finally, after a few seemingly-infinite seconds, Shaw hoisted the dog up and more or less dropped him onto Root.

Root's injured arm screamed with pain as she tried to support 70lbs of confused canine and she ended up on her ass on the pavement with the dog in her lap.

“Nice catch.” Shaw landed on the pavement next to her, graceful as a cat. “But I think they saw me, so we need to run.”

It almost went smoothly. Machina was very good at directing them around the worst of the potential trouble spots and keeping them ahead of the pursuit that She assured Root was behind them as they made their way out of town, but there were some things even She couldn't help with. Like the fact that Provincial Intelligence had posted people at every gate to the town.

“They must have some new type of alarm system in the headquarters if they got this many men out this fast,” Shaw whispered as they looked out of an alley at the men near the gate who were not-quite-casual enough in their loitering.

Root leaned around Shaw to get a look as well, pressing up against her back maybe a little more than was necessary. “She thinks the lock on the cage might have been an anchor that somehow alerted them when it was destroyed.”

“I guess we're going to have to fight our way out.” Shaw pushed her back so she could move away. “There's not that many of them, though I wish there was a quieter way to do this.”

“Shaw?” Root stared down at her shirt and the red stain on it from where she'd been pressed against Shaw's back. “Did you get hurt?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah. One of those idiots threw a knife at me when I jumped out the window. Not a big deal.”

The knife must have been long gone now, and Root couldn't even see the tear in Shaw's cloak.

“If you're hurt, I can--”

“I said it's not a big deal. Now are we fighting our way through here or does She have a better plan?”

_~There are too many others on their way. Go quickly.~_

“I think we're fighting our way out.”

Shaw nodded grimly. “Good.”

* * *

 

Shaw tried to split her attention between the the Provincial Intelligence agents in front of her and watching Root fight. She'd seen only a little of Root's blessing before and always been on the receiving end, but now…

Blue-white lightning wrapped around Root's hands and arms and crawled through the air towards the men in front of her in a blinding cobweb of bolts. Her entire face was twisted into an enormous gleeful grin that only grew wider as her opponents cautiously regrouped.

Shaw tore her eyes away to deal with her own opponents. She recognized one of them from her time in Provincial Intelligence: his blessing involved sending shockwaves of varying intensity that could be used to stun someone or to rip their internal organs apart. The other two she'd never seen before so she'd need to be careful and maybe deal with them first.

The one thing her opponents rarely ever anticipated was how fast she could move. Her skill gave her that extra edge and initial burst of speed to shift the odds in her favor. She had a long fighting knife from her cloak out and one man down on the ground bleeding out before the other two could react.

The man with the shockwave blessing reacted first. He jumped back a step and then punched the empty air in front of him.

It took every ounce of self-control Shaw had not to dodge away or at least brace herself, but instead she waited at ease, and welcomed the force of the attack in. It hurt for a split second and then the pain was replaced with a rush of energy that momentarily knocked the breath out of her and made her heart race. Blessings might be a power from the natural world, but once that power entered her body it was under her control.

Healing the knife wound on her shoulder was done almost without thought. She'd stitched herself back together so many times now that it was almost instinctual and the amount of excess power that buzzed through her veins would have allowed her to heal a thousand wounds that size.

It was like having an extra well of strength to draw from, she figured. Instead of burning her own body out for resources she could first use this excess power to fuel her actions, and she could use it faster and in larger quantity without running the risk of burning herself out.

She shot forwards, faster than before, and cornered her third opponent and ran him through before he could move. As he fell to the ground she spun to face the final man even as he punched his fist into the ground and sent a shockwave rippling through the earth towards her.

It should have been near-impossible to dodge, but Shaw felt as if everything but her was moving half-speed and jumping forwards over the oncoming wave was the easiest thing in the world. She crashed into the man and sent him sprawling on the ground. A kick to the side of his head ensured he wouldn't be getting up again anytime soon, and while she briefly considered cutting his throat to avoid the potential of running into him again later, she decided against it. Killing unconscious opponents had never been her style.

As she turned away to check on the rest of the fight, something pricked her in the side of the neck, a sensation she was unfortunately familiar with. Her hand flew to her neck and yanked the dart out, knowing that whatever it was had already gotten into her bloodstream.

On a different day that might have slowed her down, but with the extra power and the fact the toxin (a paralyzing agent she noted) had barely had time to spread, filtering it from her blood took her barely a minute.

Root, however, had not been as fortunate. When Shaw spotted her, she had fallen to her knees, one hand held out in front of her, still intent on blasting anyone who came near her, and her injured arm loosely clutching what Shaw was sure must have been the twin of the dart she'd been hit with. Bear stood next to her, his lips drawn back in a snarl at the remaining opponents circling them.

There were too many, Shaw realized. Even with this extra boost she had she couldn't take down this many people solo while protecting Root and then dragging her paralyzed body out into the woods. There was absolutely no way to do that.

Root must have come to the same conclusion because she turned towards Shaw as best she could and yelled, “Go!”

Every single piece of logic told Shaw that running now gave the best chance of her surviving and none of her options helped with Root's current situation even slightly. And yet she hesitated.

“Shaw, go! She has a plan.”

It had to be a lie. What could a spirit do to help Root now? But what other option did Shaw have?

“Bear! With me!”

It didn't seem fair taking away Root's defender, but Shaw was very aware of what would happen to Bear if she left him behind.

Some of the other men turned towards Shaw as Bear rejoined her, but, even as Shaw braced herself to fight, the men jerked and twitched and collapsed into a heap. Beyond them she saw Root, one hand pointed in their direction even as she slumped further over.

“Go. I'll hold them here.” It didn't look like Root could even hold herself up, but her voice was steady and her eyes full of determination.

Five more agents appeared out of a nearby alley and Shaw knew that she'd run out of options. She took one last look at Root, kneeling in the dirt road near the gate with her arm slowly drooping from the paralysis, and then she turned and ran through the gate and towards the forest.

She tore through the woods, Bear at her side, and her mind racing. She needed to regroup, and she needed backup. The fact they'd used paralyzing agents rather than poison meant they wanted them alive, so she had time to get Reese and come back for Root. She knew exactly what sorts of things they might do to Root if they were trying to get information or cooperation out of her and none of them were pleasant, but most of them took some time.

She wasn't sure why she should care about rescuing a woman she barely knew or trusted, but it never even crossed her mind that it was an option not to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a cliffhanger. oops.
> 
> please do not drop Belgian Malinois on your injured friends.


	5. Anchors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as you may have guessed, this chapter strongly parallels aletheia in some ways. the torture-y stuff is about the same in a lot of ways, so consider this your content warning for all of that.

Root woke up in a cell.

It was hardly the first time this had ever happened to her, but circumstances were a little different this time--Provincial Intelligence was much worse than a bunch of city guards and far more used to dealing with prisoners with blessings.

She had a very vivid memory of her last look at Shaw and the indecision on Shaw's face before she'd left. Shaw would know exactly what Root was up against now. Would she try and come back for her?

Doubtful. There was nothing in it for Shaw, so why should she?

Of course, Root had other options now.

She pulled herself up off the narrow stone bench against the wall of the tiny cell. A sharp burst of pain from her injured arm let her know that the fight and whatever jostling around had happened to get her in the cell had likely not helped with the healing process. There wasn't much she could do about that in her current condition though.

It was hard to make out much of the room with the only light coming through a tiny barred window on the door. The lack of light was a standard precautionary measure taken for prisoners with strong blessings. With less light it would be harder to aim or manipulate a blessing quickly. Or that was the hope at least.

She had manacles on her wrists again much to her annoyance. That seemed to be happening a lot recently, though at least her hands were in front of her this time.

“Any thoughts on what I do next?” she asked quietly.

_~You will be unable to escape yet. I am sorry. I could not see the lock that Sameen Shaw broke and so I could not warn you.~_

“Why couldn't you see it?” Root asked as she felt along the surface of the metal bands on her wrists. Where were the keyholes?

_~Anchors, by nature, are difficult for me to find.~_

So the lock _had_ been an anchor. That made sense. Though if someone had gone to the trouble of putting an anchor lock on the pen of Shaw's dog then they must have guessed she might come back for him. Shaw had mentioned Provincial Intelligence was aware that she was still alive, but just what had she done to piss them off to the point that they'd boobytrap her dog's cage?

“Well, fortunately I've gotten myself out of cells all on my own quite a few times now, so this shouldn't be too much of a problem.”

She raised her injured arm towards the door and prepared to send out a weak pulse, just enough to make a little light. Nothing happened.

She felt a slight flutter of panic, but took a deep breath and tried again, this time focusing more intently on the channel within her.

Still nothing. It was as if someone had blocked off the channel inside her and cut her off from the source of her powers.

“What did they do?”

_~I am sorry.~_

“This isn't your fault. Now what, exactly, did they do?” And was it permanent?

_~It is the restraints you are wearing. I heard them discussing them when they put them on you.~_

The news came as something of a relief. If she could get out of the cuffs then she'd have her powers back. Of course the lack of any sort of fastening mechanism on them presented a problem. They must have been another anchor--there seemed to be a lot of them popping up lately, and this one was especially disturbing.

“Any idea how I can get them off?”

_~You cannot presently. Your blessing could open them, but you cannot access your blessing.~_

“Well, then maybe--” She stopped when she heard footsteps approaching. The steps stopped outside her cell and moments later the door swung open.

There were three men on the other side that she'd never seen before. None of them looked arrogant or polished enough to strike her as someone important, so she guessed that they had likely just been sent to fetch her.

She stood up a little shakily when one of them beckoned for her to leave the cell. Whatever the paralyzing agent they'd hit her with was had been rough, and even though it had mostly worn off now, she still felt a little bit off balance.

“Well, boys,” she said to her new companions, “shall we go?”

* * *

 

Shaw's lungs were burning as she ran up the last stretch of the hill towards where they'd left the horses. She turned left into the trees at the top of the rise and flew into the little clearing. Reese was already on his feet and aiming a crossbow. He lowered it when he saw it was her.

“What the hell happened down there?” he asked. “I heard what sounded like a lot of fighting. Thought you were keeping a low profile?”

Shaw leaned forwards with her hands on her knees to catch her breath. She wasn't sure she'd ever run that fast for that long before. “Plans got changed.”

Bear cautiously approached Reese and sniffed at his shoes and then at his offered hand.

“What happened to Root?” Reese asked as he tentatively patted Bear on the head.

“I think it was a trap.” How the hell could they have known she was coming? “They surrounded us at the gate. There were too many and they hit Root with some sort of paralyzing dart. Couldn't do anything in the circumstances but get myself killed, so I came back.”

The look on Root's face when she'd left her didn't sit right with her. She didn't do guilt, but she didn't leave people behind.

Reese set down the crossbow and went to investigate the other weapons he had strapped to his saddle. “Are we going back after her right away, or should we wait until night?”

Shaw straightened back up. “You're not going to suggest we just leave her? Didn't think you liked her much.”

“I don't, but I know what sorts of things your former associates do to people, and I wouldn't leave anyone in that situation. Also, she's way too dangerous to let Provincial Intelligence get ahold of.”

“She covered my escape. Didn't have to, but she did.”

“I guess that's something anyway.” Reese slung a long sword over his back on a strap. “Do you have a plan or are we just charging in?”

Shaw thought back on everything she knew about the town she'd spent years living in. If they'd wanted to take them alive then that meant that they wanted something from them. The most obvious possibility was that this had to do with whatever the hell Root had done in that spirit cave a few nights ago. Did Provincial Intelligence somehow know that they'd been involved? They'd probably want some answers about that.

“There are cells on the lower floor of headquarters. They'd probably put her there until they were ready for...whatever they plan next. If it's interrogation then they've got a few other rooms down there they use for that.”

“Is there a back way down to those cells?”

“No. We could get to the stairs through the back entrance, but there's only one set of stairs and they're right in the middle of the place and they'll be guarded.” She looked at their meager possessions and then eyed Reese thoughtfully. “This shield blessing you've got, just how impenetrable is it?”

* * *

 

The room they brought Root to was clearly staged to unnerve her. Not only was the bloody body of a man dragged out right before they went in, but the floor and walls inside bore much older bloodstains. She didn't doubt that they were real, but she'd bet that they were purposefully allowed to stain to intimidate prisoners.

There was a stone chair in the middle of the room that her escorts shoved her towards. She took a seat with her manacled hands resting in her lap. There was no one else in the room yet (which reinforced her theory that the dead man dragged out had been to rattle her), but there was a low wooden table along one wall which had all manner of metal instruments and vials of odd colored liquids on it.

The three guards retreated to stand at attention along one wall, waiting for whoever the boss was, she'd guess. She wanted to ask Machina if She knew what to expect, but there was no way to do that with those three in the room.

They made her wait for a long time. Another intimidation tactic she figured--they wanted her to look at the grisly tools and bloodstains and imagine all the terrible things in store for her.

It was unbelievably boring.

She spent her time examining the manacles on her wrists more closely. It was second nature for her to use her blessing to probe things like this and she kept reaching for it and feeling slightly sick when she ran into the wall blocking her.

The metal bands each had a seam in them where the cuffs joined, but there was no latch or keyhole or even marking on them to give her a hint as to how they worked. The most likely possibility was there were multiple anchor blessings woven into them: one which prevented her from using her blessing, and one which used some sort of force to keep the edges of the cuffs pressed firmly together. The only way to get rid of them without her own blessing would be to break the cuffs, or convince whoever had set the anchor to release it. There was also the possibility of crushing one or both of her hands to slide out, but she'd rather keep that as a last resort.

Since she had nothing else to do, she went back to an exercise she'd used a lot as a child. She shut her eyes and sank down inside her body to map the patterns of herself. She didn't know exactly what to call what she was looking at: her soul, her essence, her internal energy. It didn't ultimately matter.

She ignored the one rupture on the surface of her being that she'd trained herself to forget about. It had been a tear when she was younger, but now it was more like an ugly, festering wound, full of a dark, raw anger that leaked from it like an infection. Even if she'd wanted to do something about that, she wouldn't have known how.

Closer to the center of her chest, she could clearly feel the force blocking her access to her blessing. It was like something had been secured over the top of the opening. She poked and prodded at it with her mind, remembering how she'd tried to unlock her own blessing without the spirits when she was a child. All she needed was a tiny little crack, the smallest of openings.

_~They are here for you.~_

For a second Root thought that somehow, miraculously, Shaw and Reese had come back for her, but the door to the room swung open and a woman Root had never seen before swept in. Root could guess that from the way she held herself and barely even acknowledged the guards that this woman was someone who considered herself important.

“So glad to see you're awake now,” said the woman in a voice that lacked any trace of sincerity. “Good. It's time for us to have a little chat.”

* * *

 

Reese was deeply unenthused with the current plan. He'd pulled off some risky stunts that should have gotten him killed plenty of times over the years, and he'd been pretty okay with all of those. But this? Insanity.

“You just have to focus, Reese,” he muttered under his breath in his best impersonation of Shaw's voice. “How hard can it be to do something that no one believes is possible without any practice or training?”

“What are you grumbling about now?” Shaw asked from behind him.

“Me?” he asked in a more normal voice. “Nothing at all. Can't see any way this plan is going to go wrong.”

“Good, because it's time to get started.”

“You taking off then?”

“Figured I'd stay for a minute to make sure you weren't getting in over your head.”

He had a couple snide remarks he could have responded with, but he refrained from doing so. The plan wasn't necessarily a _bad_ plan, it was just that the part it all hinged on was way too big of a question mark for him.

But he didn't have a better idea and if it worked, well, it might open up a lot of other possibilities.

“Here goes then,” he said and walked out of the alley towards the front gate of the Provincial Intelligence headquarters building.

Since the town was supposed to be at least loosely pretending to be an ordinary town rather than a cluster of agents, there weren't official guards on duty at the gate. There were, however, a couple men lounging around in a seemingly casual way who straightened up a bit when he approached.

“Can I help you, sir?” one of them asked in a tone that clearly stated he should leave immediately.

Reese sighed to himself. Moment of truth here. “Honestly? I'm not sure anyone can help me.”

There was only the faintest stirring of dust on the road around him as his shield expanded just enough to give him a little room to maneuver. The men at the gate were all upright and reaching for weapons now, unsure what was happening but sensing that something was off.

Reese held up his hands as if in surrender and backed away a few paces. “Don't want any trouble here, fellows.”

The guards didn't relax, but he didn't really care. When he reached the optimal distance he gathered himself and charged forwards as fast as he could. The shield wall slammed into all three men and sent them sprawling while Reese scrambled to a halt.

He heard a lot of noise from further inside the building. He must have attracted some attention with that stunt, which was good since that had been the whole point.

Now for the impossible part.

_“Listen, all I'm saying is that it should be possible,” Shaw had said. “You're all given these blessings with no explanation or training and the vast majority of you end up sticking to whatever the most straightforward use of them is because that's all we expect to have. But look at Root. She can supposedly do all kinds of different things with hers.”_

_“That's because she has an extra strong blessing,” John had argued. “Hers isn't normal.”_

_“I don't think it's strength that matters here. It's utility. And anyway, are you really gonna let Root show you up?”_

It was infuriating that Shaw's little jab had worked, but it had been enough for him to try what she'd suggested. And while he hadn't quite managed to do what she’d wanted, he'd done _something_ that was maybe along the same lines. Shaw had assured him that the thrill of combat would be exactly what he needed to figure out the rest.

She owed him big time for this.

It was a little like trying to stretch a muscle he didn't know he had. He hadn't been sure where to begin, but once he'd gotten a small bit of success he could feel the potential for more. His shield was spread around him like a dome, protecting him on all sides and from above, with the strength of the shield evenly distributed along all parts of the dome. He focused, ignoring the sound of people running out of the headquarters building in front of him, and carefully pushed the density of the back and top parts of the shield around towards the front. It was tough to do, since it felt like the shield was naturally inclined to return to its even distribution, but maybe Shaw had been right and all he'd needed was the threat of his imminent death to focus.

One of the men from the headquarters tried to rush him then, and slammed into his shield with a satisfying crunch. His old shield would have held the man back as well, but Reese could tell that what he'd done had worked.

He backed up a few paces again, ignoring the rain of arrows that splintered against his shield, and charged once more.

Not only did the men go flying, but the wooden gate securing the building practically exploded in a rain of kindling and wire.

Reese took a second to appreciate the havoc he'd wrecked with a pleased smirk. Maintaining a shield for an extended period of time wasn't going to be easy (and this new technique made it even harder), but the results were immensely satisfying.

There was a lot more noise coming from inside the building now. He glanced back at the alley to find Shaw long gone. Hopefully she was already inside and on her way to get Root because the entire force of Provincial Intelligence was about to attack him and he'd rather not have to stick around any longer then he had to.

* * *

 

Root had promised herself that no matter what they did to her she wouldn't make a sound. She didn't keep that promise.

It had started out mildly enough.

“I'm afraid my guards you incapacitated the other night didn't catch your name,” the stern woman said.

So the guards outside the spirit cave must have found a way to get a message here ahead of them. Interesting.

“You can call me Root.” No fake names were needed when she was here as an extension of Her.

“And you can call me Control.”

Now _that_ was interesting. Root had heard of the mysterious figure in charge of Provincial Intelligence, but she'd never tracked them down (though to be fair, it hadn't been her highest priority).

“I'd ask who you're working for, but you'd only lie, so we'll save that question for later,” Control said. “After all, we may be here for quite a while together if things don't go well.”

Root rattled the manacles on her wrists. “These are a nice touch. Your own handiwork?”

Control's smile was anything but sincere. “No, my talents lie elsewhere, in things such as, oh, information extraction, to pick an example at random.”

That didn't tell Root anything about whether or not Control had a blessing, but the presence of the fun torture table suggested she might not, or at least not one suited to torture. Few blessings could be controlled with enough finesse to be useful in such circumstances and even though Root's could, she usually preferred using other methods first. Sometimes the simple ways were best.

Control came to stand directly in front of her. “You did something the other night, something that interfered with our control over our...information source.”

Root almost laughed at that. “Is that all you think She is? An information source? You really have no idea what you're dealing with, do you?”

Control scowled for a split second, but recovered smoothly. “Well, why don't you tell me then, starting with what you did to it and how we can get it back fully under our control.”

Root grinned through bared teeth. “Even if that were possible and actually something I'd consider, none of you has even half the intellect it would take to actually understand Her.”

_~Careful. Do not anger her more than necessary. I cannot protect you from this. You need to hold out until help arrives.~_

Root had no illusions about help arriving though, and, if these were really going to be her last moments, she'd be damned if she sniveled before this woman for even a second.

“I'd hoped we could settle this in a mutually beneficial way,” Control said. She walked over to the long table and selected a small bottle and a long, thin knife. “But there are other ways to get the job done.”

The guards standing by on the side of the room had come forwards as if rehearsed and grabbed each of Root's wrists and wrestled them onto the arms of the stone chair. There was a heavy iron ring on each arm that the chain on the manacles snapped to, securing her arms in place.

Control came over and waved the knife around in front of Root. “Last chance.”

Root smiled sweetly at her. “You already used up your last chance with me by making a fool of yourself.”

_~Please. I cannot help you.~_

Root figured it was probably a little too late to not anger Control, but she didn't really care. Either she survived this and escaped, or she died down here alone. Regardless of the outcome, the first anchor on Machina had been broken and, even if She wasn't completely free, She was still beyond the control of Provincial Intelligence. That was all that mattered.

The sharp sting of the knife on her arm burned more than hurt, and she watched the blood well up on the shallow cut on the inside of her left forearm. That was definitely not nearly as bad as she'd been expecting.

Control smiled coldly at her and uncapped the small bottle she held and let just a drop of it fall on the cut on Root's arm. It took a few seconds for the effects to kick in, but then she was sliding into the unavoidable blackness of unconsciousness.

When she jolted awake a few seconds later it felt like her veins were on fire. Her heart raced and she tugged hard at the manacles until her wrists ached. She gasped for air and tried to get her breathing back under control as whatever it was that had entered her veins this time sent spikes of pure adrenaline lancing through her.

It took her a few seconds to become aware of her situation again. There was now a cut on her other arm as well, the twin of the first, and Control was holding two little bottles.

“Well, this is certainly entertaining,” Root managed to say between shaky breaths.

“This--” Control held up one of the bottles. “--is an extremely powerful sedative. It's one of the things we use to deal with people using blessings that we don't want to kill. Getting the dosage right is so tricky though. A little too much, and….” She tilted the bottle back and forth so Root could get a look at the liquid sloshing around inside and then held up the other bottle.

“And this one is something we've been working on for a while, but still needs some...testing. You're probably aware that using blessings takes a lot out of a person and sustained attacks are hard to keep up. The contents of this little bottle lets people ignore the exhaustion and keep using their blessings for longer. Of course anyone using it runs the risk of accidentally dying from over-exertion, and there are also some...side effects.”

Root's heart was still racing and her blood felt like it was boiling in her veins.

“Do you really expect anyone to fight effectively with these sorts of side effects?” she asked as she clenched her fists and tried to get control of herself back.

“We're working on refining it, and it's _so_ nice of you to help us test it.” Control uncapped the sedative bottle and held it over Root's arm again. “Time for another brief nap, unless, that is, you're feeling more cooperative now?”

“And miss out on all the fun?”

_~It will kill you if she continues for too long. You must distract her. Tell her what she wants to know. I can tell you how it would be possible to trap me again. She will stop for long enough then.~_

Root had never heard Her sound distressed before and it tugged at some part of her that she hadn't realized still existed. But there was no way she would ever give Control information like that.

And so she stayed silent for as long as she could and then when she couldn't stay silent anymore she screamed, but she did not say a single word.

It was almost impossible to focus inside herself in the calm, collected manner she'd always used before, so she didn't even try. She dove into the fabric of her own being and tore at the barrier between herself and her blessing with every ounce of energy she had left. Every time Control knocked her out she had to start over, but every time the adrenaline surged through her she used every ounce of it to rip at the invisible wall.

“Help me,” she begged, hoping that somehow Machina could assist her in freeing her power.

“All you have to do is tell me what I want to know, and you'll get all the help you want,” Control said in a reasonable manner.

Root lifted her head enough to snarl at her. “I wasn't talking to _you_.”

Control's eyes widened. “It talks to you?” She nodded, almost to herself. “That would explain how you managed to partially free it. I knew the southern province was looking into direct communication, but I didn't realize how far they'd gotten. Unless perhaps, it's actually the Imperials you work for?” She waited a moment for a reply, but Root remained silent. “Well, we can put a stop to this.”

There was a loud crash from somewhere above, but Root's attention was focused too tightly on clawing at the wall blocking her powers to fully register it. Machina's presence surrounded her like a warm blanket the way it had in the cave and she felt Her guiding her, nudging her towards the point where the block was weakest, and helping her focus her efforts on that point.

_~I'm sorry.~_

For what, Root wanted to ask. But then there was an unbelievably sharp and intense pain at the side of her head and she distantly heard herself cry out.

The pain faded though, like there was a wall between it and her and she pressed harder and felt the barrier give. It was only a tiny crack, but it was all she needed. She pulled power through it, as much as she could and as far as she could, feeling the rest of the spell creak and groan under the force.

_~You must slow down. When it breaks, more will rush out than you can control.~_

Root couldn't stop herself though. She had a very chilling certainty of what Control had just done to her, and she had to stop her from doing more. Now.

She pulled more and more and the barrier shattered completely and more power than she'd ever known was possible crashed through her in an endless wave. She felt the metal cuffs around her wrists crumble like dust and she caught the briefest glimpse of Control’s shocked face before the power exploded out of her and the sharp smell of lightning and glowing blue webs of power filled the room.

_~I'm sorry.~_

Root couldn't even process the words enough to wonder what She meant.

* * *

 

Shaw had been pretty pleased with how Reese's barrier experiment had turned out. Not only was their plan on track, but now she got to say I told you so to him later.

With most of the troops in headquarters running to the entrance to deal with the human battering ram destroying their building, Shaw was free to slip in the back door unnoticed.

The halls were almost completely empty, and the handful of unfortunate agents who got in her way didn't stand a chance. She was still riding on the edge of the power boost she'd gotten earlier though she could tell it was nearly depleted.

It wasn't a big deal; she'd been working off her own energy reserves for most of her life so this was nothing new.

She'd neared the stairs to the basement and had just finished subduing her fifth opponent when a blinding blue light erupted from the stairwell and even seemed to shine up through cracks between the floorboards. She squeezed her eyes shut and let ghost images of the flash of light play out behind her eyelids. After the crackling noise that had accompanied the light died down, she cautiously opened her eyes again.

That must have been Root. Good. She was still alive, and apparently _really_ pissed.

She'd only made it halfway down the stairs when she found Root, who was making her way up, leaning against one wall.

She looked fucking awful: her hair sticking to her face in sweaty tendrils, eyes glowing with fevered intensity, blood on both her arms and the side of her head, her hurt arm cradled against her chest, and even under the blood Shaw could see there was something deeply wrong with the skin on both of her arms.

“Shaw?” Root stared at her in confusion.

Shaw briefly debated doing a quick check of her injuries before going any further to make sure she wasn't in danger of dying on the spot, but another crash from the front of the building reminded her that Reese couldn't maintain his barrier for too long and needed her to get out of here as fast as possible.

“Let's go.” She gripped Root by her upper arm on her uninjured side and pulled her after her up the stairs. Root wasn't exactly steady on her feet, but she didn't seem to have any trouble keeping up.

Shaw backtracked along the path she'd taken in and the only agent she ran into took one look at them and ran. It was a bit satisfying even if it probably had more to do with how terrifying Root looked right now than anything Shaw had done.

Outside on the street Root stumbled a little, and Shaw tightened her grip on her. There were still occasional blue sparks flickering from Root's fingers and giving Shaw small jolts. It gave her an idea.

“Think you can shock me once with that?” she asked.

“What for?” Root asked. Her eyes were a bit unfocused now.

“Trust me.”

Root blinked a few times and her eyes cleared enough to meet Shaw's squarely. Shaw wanted to squirm under the intensity of her gaze, but held fast and returned her look steadily.

“Okay.”

Root wrapped one hand around Shaw's wrist and Shaw had only a second to prepare before her skin tingled with Root's power. It was getting easier to relax into it and absorb the power and Shaw breathed deeply as the flood of energy rushed through her. She might pay for this later, but for right now it could get them out of here.

“Let's go.” She tightened her grasp on Root and hurried back towards the front of the building.

The entrance was in a state of sheer chaos. There were at least thirty agents hammering at Reese's shield wall with various weapons and blessings. He'd been damn lucky that none of them had a blessing like Root's that could pass through his shield.

Shaw had prepared for this part. She pulled the little surprise she'd put together out of her cloak and hurled it at the agents in front of Reese's shield. Thick, grey smoke rose from it, and the assailants coughed and choked. A few of them collapsed on the spot.

Reese looked over at them and backed away from his suddenly incapacitated enemies.

“Can you run?” Shaw asked Root as Reese rejoined them.

“Not sure,” Root replied distantly. “She says I shouldn't, but I'm willing to try.”

“What the hell happened to her?” Reese asked. He looked exhausted.

“Later. We need to move. Think you can carry her?” One of them needed to be free to fight anyone who came after them, and right now she was in the best shape out of all three of them.

“No.” Root tried to back away.

“He just helped save your life. This isn't the time to be picky.”

“No.” Root didn't look like she was going to budge on this one and they were out of time.

“Fine, but if you fall over, you're getting dragged back to the horses.”

“Fine.”

They all turned away from the ruins of the headquarters and Shaw found herself running away from her former town as fast as she could go for the second time that day.


	6. Cave

Root had insisted on riding on her own horse despite Shaw's concerns that she'd pass out or fall off during their escape ride. There hadn't been enough time to argue about it, so Shaw tried to keep her horse next to Root's as much as the forest allowed. She wasn't going to let Root get herself captured again after all the trouble they'd gone through to bust her out.

She'd only had time for a very brief examination before they'd had to flee, just enough to ascertain that Root wasn't in danger of bleeding to death. Her pulse had been too fast and unsteady for Shaw's liking, and there was something that didn't look quite like normal burn marks on both her arms, but nothing that had required treatment that was more urgent than them escaping.

Reese led the way, taking them on a convoluted, off-road path through the woods, and Bear raced along besides them through the overgrowth. Shaw split her attention between trying to get an idea of where they were headed and keeping an eye on Root.

“Wait.”

It was the first thing Root had said since they'd started riding.

“We need to go this way.” She slowed her horse and pointed in a direction that was perpendicular to their current path.

“There's no way out over there,” Shaw argued even as she brought her own horse down to a trot.

“But there's a place to hide.”

Reese had finally slowed up and circled back. “We can't afford to stop here.”

“She says there's somewhere we can hide over that way.” Shaw looked at Root, considering her options. “That coming from you or from your boss?”

“From Her. I don't know this particular stretch of the middle of nowhere that well.”

Shaw wondered if Root had tried to say that last part as a joke. Given that Root was half-bent-over in her saddle and her voice was raw it was a bit hard to tell.

“We keep going that way it's only a matter of time before they catch us and we have to fight,” Shaw said to Reese. “If there's a way we can give them the slip…”

“You trust her enough to make that call?” he asked.

“I trust that she sure as shit doesn't want to get recaptured right now.”

Reese didn't look thrilled, but he nodded.

Shaw turned back to Root. “Lead the way.”

Root took them through a winding path, avoiding the tighter clusters of forest. Probably to leave less of a trail, Shaw figured, though there was no way to leave no trail at all on horses.

“There.” Root slowed to a halt and pointed.

At first Shaw didn't even spot the cave entrance since it blended into the side of the hill in the darkness. It appeared large from what little she could make out, definitely enough room for all of them and the horses. Hopefully it wasn't already occupied--the last thing she needed to end this day with was a fight with the local wildlife.

Root rode towards the cave, looking like all it would take was a bit of a breeze to make her fall off her horse. Shaw cast one last look back over her shoulder at the dark forest and then followed her.

The cave was almost pitch black inside, and felt a little chilly. Shaw waited for her eyes to adjust enough for her to dismount and lead her horse to one side of the cave. There were a few rocks over there that could be utilized to loosely tether a horse to in a pinch, but they'd need a better arrangement if they stayed for longer though. There were also things they could do to make the place more defensible and--

“What are you doing now?”

Reese's voice drew her attention back to the others. Root was standing in the entrance to the cavern, swaying with the effort of staying on her feet. She didn't say or do anything, but suddenly the air in front of her rippled and twisted, spreading out to cover the entire entrance in what almost looked like the surface of a pool of water. It was a lot like the barrier in front of the cave they'd found Root in.

“This some secret power you've got that you haven't shared with us?” Shaw asked as she walked over next to Root to examine the barrier. She could see outside, though it was all wavy and out of focus, but she was willing to bet no one could see in.

“Not mine. Her's. It helps Her to have a point of focus. Something to….” Root's voice trailed off.

Shaw had been expecting her to pass out since they'd recused her, so she was fully ready to catch her before she hit the ground.

“Can you grab the healing supplies from my bag?” she called to Reese as she lowered Root to the floor. She pulled her cloak off and balled it up under Root's head.

“I need to go cover our tracks,” Reese said when he handed her the little leather bag of healing supplies. “You good here?”

“Yeah, go. No point in me helping her if they track us down and kill us anyway.”

“I'll be back in an hour, then.”

She watched Reese cautiously step through the barrier and disappear into the woods.

“Guess I should start a fire so I can see what I'm doing,” she said to Bear, who'd come over to lie down next to Root. “Have a feeling it's going to be a long night.”

* * *

 

Root was only somewhat aware of her physical form. It felt like she was floating inside her own body, not quite asleep but not quite awake. She was distantly aware of someone touching her, hands moving over her arms purposefully, but gently. Shaw, she thought.

“Be quiet and sleep while you can.” Shaw's voice cut through the void.

She must have said her name aloud even though she hadn't tried to.

_~She is helping you as best she can. You were badly hurt.~_

The space that Root felt herself floating in was warm and comforting, like Her presence was somehow wrapped around her.

_~I am sorry I could not stop what happened.~_

“It wasn't your fault.” She wasn't completely sure if she'd said it out loud until she felt Shaw's hands freeze.

“Obviously it wasn't my fault,” Shaw said. “I guess we both owe Provincial Intelligence one now.”

She hadn't meant to direct the message at Shaw, but she was glad Shaw had thought it was for her. She didn't blame either of them.

She wished she could open her eyes or move, but she wasn't aware enough of her own physical form to do so. They must still be in the cave. Was John there as well? She could only vaguely remember getting them to the cave. Why had they come back for her anyway? Had She told them to?

“Couldn't risk you telling Provincial Intelligence about us,” Shaw said defensively. “Don't read too much into it.”

_~Sameen Shaw and John Reese came back of their own accord, without my direction. I do not think Shaw ever intended to leave you.~_

Root would have laughed at the difference in answers if she were capable of it at the moment. She remembered Shaw's hesitation before she'd run away, but she still wasn't sure what to make of it. Shaw didn't really like her much for all that she was obviously attracted to her. So why come back?

“Are you actually awake?” Shaw asked.

Root wasn't sure how to answer or if she wanted to. Maybe Shaw would say more if she thought Root was unconscious.

“Probably for the best that you're not,” Shaw said after a minute. “Next part may hurt.”

The searing pain in her shoulder almost shook her out of the trance-state she was in, but then the presence around her grew stronger and the pain retreated to a more tolerable level. It still hurt a lot, though, and Root struggled to get away.

_~Do you want me to distract you? I could tell you about something. Perhaps the history of this cave? There are several very interesting species of insects that live here, each uniquely evolved to suit a life with little to no sunlight.~_

As fascinating as that was, it wasn't quite what Root wanted to hear about right now. There was one topic that was urgently in need of some answers since her capture.

“Anchors.” She was fairly sure she'd managed to say it out loud. There had been an unprecedented number of anchors popping up lately and some of them were way too dangerous.

“You say something?”

Machina had heard her though.

_~Of course. I will tell you about the insects some other time.~_

She almost sounded disappointed and Root wondered if maybe Machina had been as desperate for someone to talk to as Root had been herself. She made a note to herself to ask Her about the cave insects later.

_~Anchors are a more rare blessing as they do not directly convert energy into a form that can pass between planes, but rather trap it in a potential form in an object. They are blessings given out to those unsuited for combat but with the desire or mentality that leads to participating in conflict.~_

That made sense to her. A way for people prone to conflict to help others in enacting it. Enablers.

_~Most anchor blessings are given to assist in combat, such as the one that blocked your blessing and the one that held the cuffs shut.~_

Root wanted to ask about the ones binding Her, but the distant pain made it harder for her to focus on getting words out.

_~The group you call Provincial Intelligence has been gathering up those with anchor blessings recently. Though they are not the only group doing this.~_

Definitely troubling, though not surprising. And whoever had made the cuffs that cut her off from her blessing was someone she needed to kill as soon as possible.

Shaw's voice cut back in. “Think that's all I can do for your arm now. Really need something better to treat all of this. Don't have anything for the burns, and your ear….”

Root had been trying not to think about that. She was aware that something was very wrong there, and also bitterly amused by Control's absurd assumption that she needed her ears to hear Her. Control was pathetically unimaginative for someone in her position.

“Maybe when Reese gets back one of us can go hunt down some better supplies from somewhere nearby. Think there's a town about two hours from here.”

She wondered if Shaw was talking for her own sake or for Root's.

She struggled against Machina's protective hold on her--she wanted to be able to talk to Shaw before John got back. It felt like fighting against a strong current, as if Machina was hesitant to release her, but finally the resistance faded away and she swam back to full consciousness.

The pain rushed over her in an almost overwhelming wave and she squeezed her eyes shut more tightly as she adjusted to it. Her body felt all wrong--hot and cold at the same time--and her heart was racing way too fast.

“Lie still or I'm going to have to sedate you.”

Shaw's voice was calm and even and Root relaxed a little.

“I'd really rather not have any more knock-out concoctions in my system right now, thanks.” Her voice sounded scratchy and her throat felt a little raw. She must have screamed more than she'd realized during the whole torture session.

She forced her eyes open and blinked a few times to adjust to the light of the fire that crackled in the middle of the cave. Once she could see, she checked out the rest of the cave.

She was lying on the floor, though there was something soft under her head and a blanket or something covering part of her. There was a warm weight pressed up against her leg that baffled her until she remembered what their mission to Shaw's old town had been for. What had Shaw called the dog? Bear? Maybe he'd taken a liking to her.

And Shaw herself sat next to her, watching her with a slight frown. She looked exhausted and Root wondered how much she'd drained herself to get through everything that had happened. Even with whatever it was she got out of the power absorption, all of it must have taken a toll on her.

“What'd they give you?” Shaw asked. “There's a couple things we use for interrogation and none of them are nice.”

Root didn't want to remember what had happened--the terror of slipping into blackness only to be ripped back into consciousness with fire burning through her veins.

“Two bottles. One put me to sleep, one woke me up in an extremely unpleasant way.” She remembered the cuts on her arms and tried to raise them up to see the damage, but the slightest movement sent a burning pain through both her forearms. All that from two shallow cuts? Had they gotten infected?

“That explains the cuts then. Those will heal cleanly. The burns I'm less sure about. Never seen anything like them.”

She couldn't recall getting burned, but then everything after she'd accessed her blessing was a bit of a blur. She knew it was theoretically possible to pull so much power that it backfired on the one who wielded it, but she'd never even come close to that limit before.

“How bad are they?”

“I've seen worse burns. Yours are just a bit different.” Shaw hesitated as if thinking something through. “Think you can sit up?”

“Of course.” Though she wasn't sure she could.

Her arms stung as she moved them to help prop herself up, and she only managed to get partway up before they gave out. Shaw caught her weight with a hand on her back and helped her sit up the rest of the way.

She immediately examined her arms, only to find them both wrapped in thick, white bandaging. Shaw stopped her when she tried to unwrap it.

“We're low on supplies so leave it be.”

Root had a suspicion about what was under the bandages that had confused Shaw, and she really wanted to check, but she relented under Shaw's stern glare.

“How're you feeling otherwise?” Shaw asked. She pressed her fingers to the side of Root's throat to get her pulse and Root swallowed involuntarily at her touch. “Nausea? Dizziness? Anything like that?”

“A little light-headed maybe.”

“Can you hear anything out of your right ear?”

It was asked in the same dispassionate voice Shaw had used to inquire about her other injuries, but it still made Root's stomach churn. She'd been trying so hard to ignore the wall of silence on her right side, to pretend it was just the bandages Shaw had put there muffling the sounds.

Some part of her had known though.

It didn't matter, she decided. It was a bit of a set back for fighting maybe, but she could still hear Her and use her blessing and nothing else mattered.

“What did she do to it?” she asked flatly.

“She?”

Right, Shaw hadn't gotten all the way downstairs, and from what Root knew of the structure of Provincial Intelligence, she might not have known who Control was at all.

“Your former boss, a woman called Control.”

“You met Control?”

“Unfortunately.”

“She still alive?”

Root couldn't remember.

_~No one in that room died, though they were severely injured.~_

Root wasn't sure how that was possible given how much power she'd unleashed, but she took Her word for it.

“Apparently. Now what did she do to me?”

Shaw looked like she was going to press for more, but then she sighed instead. “There's a deep cut behind your ear. The rest of your external ear is fine, but I'd read about similar injuries before and I was pretty sure what it meant. Not sure why though.”

Root smiled coldly. “She thought it would stop me from hearing Her. Idiot. She doesn't talk to me that way.”

Shaw nodded as if that made sense. “I'm not sure if that's something that can be fixed, but I definitely don't know how to.”

“It's not important.”

“It's--” Shaw broke off. “Okay, fine.” She got up and moved closer to the fire to rummage around in the pile of their bags. “Reese will be back soon and then one of us can go get some better healing supplies. You should sleep more. Your whole body went through a traumatic experience and it needs the rest.”

She returned with a waterskin. “Drink and then sleep.”

Root took it as best as she could manage and then hesitated. “You didn't put anything in it, right?”

“I wouldn't mix sedatives with the water supply we all need to share. And you've had enough of that stuff in your body for a while.”

Root carefully lay back down after she drank. She needed to get up and moving soon, but she recognized that she couldn't do that quite yet. A little sleep and then she could get back to important matters.

She was about to close her eyes when she remembered she'd forgotten something. She looked over at where Shaw was still watching her, her dark eyes catching flecks of the fire light.

“Thank you, Shaw, for coming back for me.”

Shaw's expression didn't budge an inch but she didn't say anything either. Root wasn't sure if that was a good reaction or not.

She shut her eyes and felt Machina wrap herself around her again and lull her back to sleep.

* * *

 

Shaw fought the urge to brace herself against the oncoming attack. Of all the uses she'd found for her skill, the ability to _not_ react when being attacked even when all her instincts screamed for her to do so was one of the oddest.

She couldn't see anything coming, but out of nowhere an invisible force slammed into her and sent her sprawling. She tried to grasp the energy of the spell, absorb it like she had other attacks, but there was nothing there for her to grab and she ended up knocked on her ass on the cave floor yet again.

She picked herself up off the ground and brushed the dirt off her pants.

“It was a long shot anyway.”

A few paces away, Reese nodded and relaxed his posture. She could guess that he'd just lowered his shield barrier, but since she couldn't see the damn thing there was no way to tell.

“It makes a certain kind of sense, though,” Root said from where she sat curled up against one side of the cave wall. “Blessings like mine are power being channelled at you, whereas John's is passive, or is supposed to be anyway. If the theory is that any power that enters your body is under your control then it would follow that you couldn't drain his shield just by touching it.”

“So only stuff that attacks me directly.” Shaw was a little disappointed, but Root was right that it made sense. Root's entire approach to blessings was way more logical than Shaw was used to and it was kind of refreshing. So many people acted as if blessings were, well, blessings, magical gifts from benevolent spirits, and refused to examine them closer to find underlying patterns and reason in them. Meanwhile Root analyzed and classified them to a degree that no one else had ever bothered to.

“May I ask how you learned to do that in the first place?” Root asked.

Shaw studied Root and tried to think of any way she could possibly use the information against her, but knowing that her skill didn't work with certain types of blessings was probably far more potentially dangerous information than knowing how she'd figured it out in the first place. And Root had helped her get Bear back and covered her while she escaped. A harmless answer seemed fair.

“About a month after you decided to torture me and steal my horse, I got blindsided during a fight. Usually when someone throws some sort of blessing attack at me, I dodge or at least move to try and reduce the damage, tense up a bit maybe, but this time I didn't see it coming at all until the very last second.”

It had been the second person that the weird water writing had sent them to save after she'd joined Reese. They'd had to split up and she'd been in an alleyway and hadn't noticed there was someone on the roof above.

“This guy took a shot at me with some kind of wind attack I think, and I saw it right as it hit me, but…”

It was hard to explain exactly how she'd absorbed that first attack. It had felt almost instinctual, the same way refocusing her own internal energy was. There'd been no time to think so she'd just...neutralized it.

“I can't use blessings. Can't control them or even reuse them, but I guess what I did was absorb the energy from the attack in some form?”

Reese scowled. “You never told me you got hit on that mission.”

“Because it didn't matter. I climbed the wall and threw the guy off the roof. Problem solved.” She hadn't wanted to say anything until she'd known more about Reese and how her new ability worked. She turned back to Root. “You've got some sort of theory about this, don't you?”

Root's breadth of knowledge was useful, but it was also really irritating how smug she got about it.

“I have a few thoughts.” And yeah, there was that obnoxious little smile.

The idea that Root might know more about this part of her skill than she did was unnerving. Her skill gave her a distinct advantage over Root and she didn't intend to have that undermined. She needed to put them back on equal footing.

“Time for me to change those bandages, I think.”

The smug look slid off Root's face.

It had been three days since they'd hidden in this cave, far more than any of them had intended to stay for. Root's condition was a lot better (the parts of it that could get better anyway), but she hadn't recovered enough that Shaw would declare her fit to travel. When it came to healing, Root was completely dependant on her, and Root _hated_ that but was also being kind of weird about it and saying thank you a lot while batting her eyelashes. Everything about it (and her) was irritating but also--. No, just irritating, Shaw decided firmly.

Shaw grabbed her substantially larger stash of healing supplies (Reese had done some shopping for her), and walked over to kneel down in front of where Root was sitting.

“You can tell me about your theories while I work.”

Reese settled down nearby next to the fire with Bear. It hadn't escaped Shaw's notice that Reese still eyed Root warily or that he seemed to have concluded that she was Shaw's responsibility.

“Let's check your arms first.”

Both of Root's arms were now loosely bandaged from the wrist to the elbow and still stiff and painful if the way Root gingerly extended her left arm was any indication.

Shaw carefully unwrapped the bandage and took a look at the skin underneath.

Root's forearms had both been covered in burns when Shaw had examined her the other night, but they were definitely unusual burns. Red trails crawled up Root's arms in an elaborate pattern that reminded Shaw of a system of tree roots, with little branches spreading out in every direction, almost like the lightning had imprinted itself on her skin. The patterns would have been kinda cool if they hadn't been fairly bad burns that left Root's skin scalded and blistered. Root hadn't looked especially surprised by them so Shaw figured they must be related to her blessing in some way.

“Looks like it's healing well enough,” Shaw said as she examined the burns as delicately as she could. Root flinched anyway, her skin no doubt painfully raw and irritated.

“I'm going to put something on the blistered parts to prevent infection.”

“Is that necessary?”

“Yes. Sit still.”

Root had treated her injuries like an annoyance rather than a serious danger so far despite Shaw's attempts to get her to take them seriously. She wasn't sure why she even bothered--if Root wanted to have her arms get infected and fall off then that was her problem--and yet she couldn't quite bring herself to not glare at Root when she fussed at her bandages or tried to move around too much. Maybe because she'd put too much time and effort into patching her up to see it all get thrown away.

“So tell me about this theory of yours,” Shaw said as she selected a few different ingredients from her supplies. Fortunately her previous jobs had given her plenty of opportunities to practice mixing salves to prevent infection.

Root had been staring at the burns on her arm and finally tore her gaze away. “Right. Remember how I mentioned that the power used in blessings gets replenished?”

“Uh-huh.” Out of the corner of her eye, Shaw could see Reese was listening in as well.

“The power itself is...it's like an extra bit of energy that gets released whenever a life begins or ends. Like a stray spark when starting a fire, or an ember when extinguishing it. And it comes from all living things, from the largest creatures in the world down to every individual blade of grass.”

Shaw finished mixing the ingredients into a paste and surreptitiously eyed Root's arms again. This next part wasn't going to be pleasant.

“Like an unused life force?” she asked, trying to keep Root focused on the conversation.

“Yes, not unlike what you use for your skill, I think, but in your case it's only your own energy.”

“So when I absorb an attack it's just temporarily adding to the pool of energy I have.” Though it wasn't quite as simple as that, she knew, because the whole thing had left her exhausted. She'd slept for hours after she'd taken care of Root.

Her hand darted out and firmly grasped Root's wrist and then quickly spread some of the salve across the burns. Root hissed and pulled against her for a second and then relaxed again.

“There's...less pain now. What did you do?”

“Nothing special. Mixed in a little something to numb it.”

“That was sweet of you.”

Shaw dumped the salve on Root's other arm to avoid having to respond to that.

“I'll rewrap these and check them again in another two days.” The shallow cuts were almost completely invisible now. At least those would heal cleanly even if nothing else would. “Let's check your shoulder next.”

Behind her, Shaw heard Reese shift around, resigned to the fact Root had to half-strip every time Shaw checked her shoulder. She waited while Root obediently struggled out of the loose tunic she had on and….

She wasn't wearing anything under it today. How the hell had she managed that?

Shaw gave herself two seconds to take everything in before firmly fixing her eyes on Root's injury. It was a pain to take the bandages off, and the process involved Root moving her arm around a bit which led to some other...distracting movements.

“This is going to leave a hell of a scar,” Shaw said once she managed to drag her eyes back to Root's shoulder. “All that shit when you were captured didn't do you any favors.” The wound had been reopened somewhere along the way.

“Not important. Just do the best you can.”

Shaw didn't mind scars so much--they were an inevitable part of her lifestyle--but Root's dismissal felt different--more like she genuinely didn't care what happened to her body.

Root stayed surprisingly docile while Shaw treated her shoulder as best she could and rebandaged it. The wound was still ugly, but at least it was healing.

Shaw had to help Root pull her shirt back, and breathed a silent sigh of relief once it was back in place. Definitely not a sight she'd be forgetting anytime soon.

“Last one.”

Root sat rigidly the entire time Shaw checked on the wound behind her ear. Of all that injuries Root had, this one seemed to bother her the most even though she still talked about it dismissively. But the way she stiffened up whenever Shaw treated it was very obvious. The entire process made Shaw uncomfortable and she tried to finish as fast as she could.

“You're good to go for another few days.”

“All thanks to you. You'll have to let me make it up to you sometime.”

The suggestion in her voice was unmistakable and Shaw couldn't help but think about the sight of half-naked Root that was basically burned into her brain now.

She ignored Root's knowing smile while she finished cleaning up the leftovers of the healing supplies she'd used. When she was done she went back over to the fire.

“Want to help me check the traps?” she asked Reese a little louder than necessary.

“You don't need my help with that.”

Shaw caught his eye and tilted her head fractionally towards Root. She saw understanding dawn in his eyes.

“Right, I can give you a hand with that.”

They left Bear behind to keep an eye on Root (though he mostly seemed interested in napping next to her).

Root didn't say anything when they left, but the little smirk on her face told Shaw she wasn't fooled even for a second.

* * *

 

“What're you thinking?” Shaw asked as soon as they were a decent distance from the cave.

Reese wondered if the distance actually mattered. Couldn't this spirit hear everything? Did she tell Root everything, too?

“I'm thinking that I still don't trust her, and I'm not completely sure about this spirit either.” He'd liked it much better when it had been as simple as getting names and saving lives. “But I don't think we can walk away from this whole situation either.”

“I don't much trust anyone, but she's had a lot of opportunities to cause us trouble, and she helped me escape back in town.”

“You want to go along with her plan to free this spirit.”

He wasn't surprised by that. In his short time with Shaw he'd figured out that she wasn't one to let emotions interfere with her judgement, but she'd obviously reached some sort of decision about Root over the course of the last few days.

“I want to see where this leads. Think it's worth our time.”

He'd already resigned himself to Root staying around, and, if he was being honest with himself, she wasn't _that_ bad. The little digs and insults were irritating, but they'd lacked the same bite since the day they'd gone to rescue her.

There was still one thing that bothered him though.

“Those burns she got, I actually have seen them before. In Bishop, on some of the bodies.”

“I figured they were some kind of lightning-specific burn pattern, but good to know.”

He waited, but Shaw didn't have any more to say about it. He let the silence stand until they reached the first snare they'd set (empty, unfortunately).

He tried again. “What happened in Bishop--”

“Happened a long time ago, and we don't know her side of the story.”

“Maybe you should ask her.”

“Why me?”

Reese wondered if she was really that oblivious. “She likes you a lot more than she likes me. Maybe even enough to tell you what happened back then.”

Shaw bent over to pull a dead rabbit out of the second snare. “I figure that's her business. You want to know, ask her yourself.”

He gave up. He didn't completely disagree with her, but...but he still clearly remembered the carnage of Bishop. Whoever had done that had been beyond rage and he really wanted to know if that kind of anger still lurked under the surface in Root.

They got three rabbits and a squirrel out of all the snares they'd set, an unexpectedly good haul which meant they'd eat well tonight. Reese found himself in a slightly better mood on the way back.

“How soon until we can leave?” he asked when they were almost to the cave. He'd been going along without complaint with Shaw's insistence that Root wasn't ready to travel yet, but he was getting restless.

“Two more days. The injuries are probably as okay as they can be for now. I'm more worried about all the shit Control put in her system. Stuff like that can have some lasting after effects.”

He could deal with two more days.

Root regarded them expectantly when they returned, like she'd known exactly what they were going to discuss.

“Got some dinner,” Shaw said, holding their catches up out of Bear's reach when he came over to investigate.

“Is that all?” Root asked.

“Yeah, that's all.”

Reese held back a chuckle at the brief look of consternation on Root's face. Shaw seemed uniquely skilled at getting under her skin, and vice versa.

Shaw held off until the rabbits were prepped and roasting over the fire.

“We're going to help your spirit boss out, for now anyway.”

Root's face lit up. “I knew you wouldn't let us down.”

“Whatever. Now tell us exactly what we're signing up for.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've never seen what a scar from being hit by lightning looks like, it's worth googling (though fair warning that some of the images aren't going to be pleasant to look at).


	7. Tavern

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mind the rating bump. Sexy times are marked off by 3 horizontal lines for anyone who wants to skip them. Not sure why this chapter got so much longer oops.

They ended up staying three more days rather than two in order to facilitate an experiment. It had been Machina's idea, and while Root hadn't thought there was even a chance of Shaw going along with it, Shaw had eventually been convinced of the possible benefits.

“How does this work then? You just blast me until it actually hits me?” Shaw asked warily.

Root shrugged. “More or less. She'll keep an eye on both of us, too.” She wasn't sure how much Machina could monitor Shaw, but every little bit could help.

“Don't blame me when you end up getting burnt to a crisp,” John called from the side.

The theory was simple: even though Shaw could absorb the energy of blessings, there had to be a limit to that capacity, and if the attack was still going on after she reached that limit, then she would get overwhelmed by it. Machina had suggested an experiment under controlled conditions to help Shaw figure out what that limit was.

It showed an unprecedented degree of trust on Shaw's part, though Root wondered if that had something to do with the fact John was watching closely from nearby. Maybe he'd shoot her with that nasty looking crossbow of his if he thought things got out of hand.

They'd decided to do the whole thing in the clearing outside the cave since Machina had been certain that the area was clear of anyone who might bother them and Root was going crazy from being stuck in a cave for so long.

Shaw rolled her shoulders back and cracked her neck. “Whenever you're ready.”

Root was overly deliberate in her motions as she raised one hand to attack. As fun as it might be to zap Shaw before she was ready, it could defeat the other purpose of this whole exercise, which was to try and win a bit more trust from the other two. Machina kept stressing that this was very important.

Root started out slow, only using enough power to shock someone. The white bolts of light flowed from her hand in a constant stream that emitted a low, crackling buzz. Shaw shivered slightly when it hit her, but made no other sign of it affecting her.

It was sort of fascinating for Root to watch the way her power seemed to melt away when it hit Shaw. She thought that maybe the air around Shaw looked a little wavy, like heat was rolling off of her, but otherwise she couldn't see any visible signs of what Shaw was doing.

She increased the intensity. This much would definitely take someone down, though probably not kill them. She bit her lower lip as she concentrated on holding the exact amount of power she was using to a steady rate. Blessings were rarely channeled for extended periods of time like this. Usually she just pulled the power she needed for a single attack and released it all at once. Even John's shield would undoubtedly grow harder and harder for him to maintain the longer he left it up.

“How're you doing, Shaw?” John asked cautiously.

“Uh, okay, I think? It's, uh, it's quite a rush.” Shaw sounded distracted, no doubt focused almost completely on the task at hand.

“I'm going to increase it a little more,” Root warned her, and then quickly added, “If that's okay?” at Machina's prompt.

“Yeah, go for it.”

Root focused and strengthened her attack a little more. At this strength it could easily kill someone.

She watched Shaw closely from across the short distance between them. Shaw's face was scrunched up into a look of intense concentration, and there was sweat running down her neck. Her eyes glowed with the reflected light of the lightning arcing between them and when she met Root's gaze she grinned, cocky and wild, like this was the most fun she'd had in ages. Root couldn't help but smile back.

_~Stop.~_

“Stop.” Shaw’s command echoed half a second after Machina's.

Root immediately stopped her attack, and was surprised to realize how much stress it had put on her. She was used to hitting things once, hard, not prolonged channeling.

“This is, this is a lot.” Shaw looked a little odd, like she was squirming in her own skin. “Need a way to unabsorb this shit or something.”

_~ Remind her of the poison.~_

“Shaw, She says to try and get rid of the excess energy the way you got rid of the poison.”

Shaw frowned but then shut her eyes tightly. She stood that way for nearly five full minutes, her breathing more slow and controlled as time passed.

_~It is working.~_

Root couldn't sense anything happening, but she didn't doubt that Machina could.

Shaw finally relaxed fully and opened her eyes.

“You okay?” John had come over to hover nearby.

“Just dandy.” Shaw looked a little unsteady on her feet, but otherwise unharmed. “Started feeling something right there at the end that I think was your blessing beginning to get through. Sort of like an aggressive tingling feeling.”

Root nodded. “Sounds likely. Based on that little experiment, I don't think you could absorb a strong, prolonged attack for more than five seconds, and I'm honestly not sure what would happen if I hit you with my strongest attack.” She didn't think even Shaw could absorb that much power quickly enough to prevent being damaged.

“Five seconds is a long time in a fight.”

Root tapped her lip thoughtfully. “Do you think you could expel the absorbed energy quicker with practice?”

Shaw took a second to consider. She actually seemed to be enjoying herself--not just the experiment itself, but analyzing it as well. “Maybe? Not fast enough to keep up with the rate of your attack though.”

“Well, I'm happy to go again if you ever want to…experiment some more.” Root batted her eyelashes a few times just in case Shaw had missed the intended innuendo.

Shaw gave her a _look_ , though Root was positive she'd seen a flicker of something else in her eyes for a second.

John cleared his throat and it was Shaw who looked away first. “Feels like I'm going to need some extra sleep tonight,” she said. “Maybe some extra food. I think absorbing power like that still puts a bit of strain directly on me.”

“It's my turn to check the traps,” John said as they all headed back towards the cave. “You good here?”

Shaw scoffed. “I'm fine. Shove off and find me some food.”

Root retreated to sit next to the fire while John grabbed a sword and set out with Bear. She was a little frustrated with how much that brief exercise had taken out of her.

_~Healing requires time and patience.~_

She knew Machina couldn't read her thoughts, but sometimes it felt like She could.

“Did you hit me with your blessing that first day? When I was poisoned in the woods, I mean.”

Root looked up just in time to see Shaw pull her sweat-soaked shirt over her head in one smooth movement, giving Root a great view of her well-defined back muscles.

Shaw turned back around after pulling a fresh shirt on and looked at her expectantly. “Root?”

“Oh, uhm, yes. Just a tiny jolt to make sure you didn't try anything while the sedative kicked in. Why?”

“Just wondering the degree of control you have over it, I guess.”

“I'd be happy to give you a more hands-on demonstration sometime, Shaw.”

Shaw rolled her eyes and sat down on the other side of the fire. “I bet you would, but I'm pretty done for the day.”

“So you're saying if I ask again tomorrow--”

Shaw chuckled and shook her head. “Can't stop you from asking.”

That was a way better response than Root had ever succeeded in dragging out of her before, but before she had time to think it through, Shaw started speaking again.

“Keep meaning to ask. This spirit we're helping, does she have a name?”

It hadn't been the question Root had expected, but it brought a smile to her lips. “She does, though I think I should probably ask her permission to share it.”

_~I do not mind either of them knowing my name.~_

“Well, if you happen to ask her, I--”

“Machina.”

Shaw nodded thoughtfully. “Machina. That sounds like a good name for a spirit.” Her lips curved up into a tiny half-smile that lasted only an instant before she turned her attention to looking for something in her pack.

Root spent the rest of the time until John got back watching Shaw sharpen a dagger, filled with some emotion that she didn't know how to define.

* * *

 

“What's she muttering about back there?” Reese asked in a whisper loud enough to carry across to Shaw where she rode next to him, but hopefully soft enough to not alert said mutterer.

“Talking to Machina, I'd guess.”

Reese had been a little taken off guard when Shaw had told him the spirit had a name. Of course it made perfect sense now, but it also made her seem more real and less of a vague idea of an entity.

“What do you think they're talking about?” Root's voice was slightly too quiet for him to make out the words.

“Only bits I overheard were about Imperial taxes and different species of wood voles.”

This, Reese decided, was too weird to deal with this early in the morning.

Root had filled them in on the rest of the plan--such as it was--over the last few days. There were two more locations that contained anchors that were being used to contain Machina.

_“Both heavily guarded by now,” Root had said the previous evening. “Provincial Intelligence has to suspect we'll target them.”_

_“Where are they?” Shaw asked, looking over the map of the province they'd laid out._

_“The one I think we should head to next is here.”_

_The location Root pointed to made Reese cringe. “It's always hot and sticky there this time of year.”_

_“Some of us enjoy hot and sticky, John.”_

_He pointedly ignored that since he knew it wasn't even aimed at him. At this point he was beyond ready for Shaw to just deal with whatever the weird tension going on between her and Root was. He kept finding excuses to leave the cave for_ _extended periods of time in the hopes they'd...do whatever it took to sort it out, but apparently that had yet to happen._

_“Where's the last one?” Shaw asked, also ignoring Root's comment._

_Root tapped the map again._

_“Oh.” Suddenly humidity sounded like a vacation to Reese._

_Shaw scowled at where Root's finger rested on the capital. “Well, shit.”_

Which was why they were now riding east towards the sweltering, disgusting swamp that Reese had sworn on several occasions he'd never go back to.

“Think it's safe to stop at an inn tonight?” Shaw asked. “I could use a bath and a good night's rest in a real bed, especially if we're headed into the worst part of the province.”

“I guess that depends how likely it is we'll run into your former employers. You'd have a better sense of that than I would,” Reese replied.

“I'd be surprised if Provincial Intelligence isn't looking for us in some capacity, but there's not that many of them and they know where we're headed so why bother searching town to town.” Shaw shrugged. “Don't think it's too big of a risk.”

She must really want that bath.

“Unless they've put out postings about us.” He'd seen them plenty of times before, roughly drawn sketches nailed to the board in the town square. He'd always figured he'd end up on one some day, though not for something quite as crazy as attacking Provincial Intelligence headquarters head-on.

“One of us can scout out the situation in the next town we pass.”

Despite his protests, Shaw got to go scout and he was left alone with Root, a situation he'd been trying to avoid.

“How're you feeling?” he asked after a few awkward minutes of silence.

Root didn't answer at first and for a second he panicked that he'd placed himself on the side of her bad ear again, but no, he was fine, and she was clearly just ignoring him.

“Do you think you feel up to a fight is what I meant.”

“I can hold my own, John.”

“You got tired after that little stunt you and Shaw tried out.”

“What do you actually want to ask me about?” Root turned to look at him and he saw that dark cunning in her eyes that always made him uneasy.

“You know why I don't trust you?”

“Because of the time I stole your coin purse and horse and got you thrown into the town lockup?”

He'd almost forgotten about that until now. “No, well, that, too, but not that primarily.”

“Ah.” Root looked away again. “You want to know about Bishop. What tragic backstory do I have that will explain away the sins of my past.”

“Is there one?”

Root's faint smile sent a shiver down his spine.

“When I was twelve, I set a hunting trap outside a boy's house where I knew he walked in the morning. It crushed his leg beyond the point where it could ever be healed. That was before the events that led me to, ah, remove Bishop from the map. I'm not going to pretend I had a perfect life, John, but I'm also not going to give you some sympathetic story where I come out as a blameless victim of circumstances.”

Maybe asking had been a mistake, but he couldn't help but try a different tact.

“When I was in the army, I was assigned to a special group for a while. We did some horrible things in the name of making the province safe and I got lost in my own darkness for a while. I think I've started finding a way out of that finally, but it's not something I could ever have done alone. Maybe--”

“John? How about we both sit here and enjoy the lovely sounds of the forest until Shaw gets back. In silence.”

“Fine.”

* * *

 

There was something uniquely satisfying about striding out of the wilderness into a town after weeks of living rough. Even though Shaw was trying to keep a low profile, she couldn't avoid people entirely and the people she did see were all dressed in relatively clean clothing and definitely didn't look like they'd spent the last week living in a spider-infested cave. The difference might have made some people self-conscious, but Shaw rather enjoyed the looks it got her. She was a mysterious and dangerous stranger from the wilderness as far as these town folks were concerned.

The fact she smelled like wet horse from the rain shower earlier ruined the effect a little, though.

She'd been to this town once or twice before, but not recently enough that anyone here should remember her. It did mean that she vaguely recalled the town layout, though, and was able to find her way to the main square without needing to ask for directions.

There was a market day in progress when she got there with tables full of wares of all types and wonderful smells coming from everywhere. It took a little shoving and prodding to fight through the crowd to the town square board and scan the notices posted there. It was mostly local postings looking for temporary laborers or advertising local wares. There was one that seemed to be an accusation by one local against another for chicken theft that had a lot of hastily scribbled, rude responses pinned to it. Another had a confusing explanation of the new Imperial tax laws written in almost illegible handwriting (ignoring tax laws was one of Shaw's favorite hobbies and she took a minor bit of enjoyment from willfully failing to read it), but nothing looked remotely connected to any of their group in any way.

She'd planned to stop by the local tavern before heading back to see if she could pick up some gossip, but a booth in the market selling crafted leather goods caught her eye. She paused to admire the obvious quality of the work, thinking of the basic lessons her father had given her as a child. He would have approved of this work.

“Anything in particular you're looking for?” asked the woman sitting next to the table of wares. Her smile was perhaps a bit friendlier than was strictly necessary for some unknown customer and Shaw guessed that maybe the wet horse smell thing wasn't as big an issue as she'd thought.

“Not really.” Her eyes fell on the assortment of arm bands and bracers at one end of the table and a thought occurred to her. “You have any of these that'll fit someone with very thin arms? Preferably full bracers that cover the forearm as fully as possible.”

The woman looked thoughtful and then sorted through the mess of goods to pull a couple likely candidates from the pile.

“One of these perhaps? They're soft leather, though, meant to be more decorative than defensive.”

“That's fine.”

“I just thought I should mention it. An obviously skilled fighter such as yourself wouldn't want to be caught with unreliable armor in a pinch. I might have some better examples of actual armor-grade pieces back at my house if you're interested.”

In other circumstances, Shaw would have been pleased with the flattery and invitation, but, okay, no she was still pleased, but unfortunately busy for the foreseeable future.

“Afraid I've got somewhere to be this afternoon. Maybe some other day.” She closely examined her first choice of the bracers for any flaws and then nodded in satisfaction. “How much for these?”

“Three silver. Though I could give you a good discount if you changed your mind. My Henri always enjoys it when I bring a friend over to help pass the time.”

Shaw briefly reconsidered taking her up on the deal. Root and Reese could suffer each other's company for a few more hours. It'd probably be good for them.

But the last thing she needed was either of them deciding she was in danger and ripping the town apart looking for her (and it startled her to realize she could imagine Root doing just that).

“On any other day, I'd take your discount, but I was serious about having somewhere else to be.” She dug three silvers out of her coin purse and passed them over. “Tell you what, next time I'm in town maybe I'll stop by to talk about getting some of my armor upgraded.” She tucked her purchases away in her cloak and slipped the woman her best wink before vanishing back into the crowd.

It was really a tragedy, she thought as she headed towards the tavern, that the others hadn't been there to see how smoothly she'd handled that transaction.

* * *

 

“Root, I think it's going to--”

“I thought we'd agreed not to talk. Really it's for the best for both of us, John.”

“Okay, fine. Have it your way.”

When it started pouring five minutes later, Reese already had pulled his oilskin cloak over himself. He waited a full ten seconds before offering Root a spare one.

* * *

 

The tavern actually seemed familiar to Shaw, which was odd considering how many taverns in small towns like this she'd been to over the years. The market must have brought in extra business because the place was packed. She made her way to the bar and shoved a mostly-unconscious patron off of a stool.

The bartender was a huge man with a broken nose who also looked a bit familiar, though Shaw couldn't quite remember why. He must have recognized her though from the expression on his face when he saw her.

“You. You're not welcome here anymore.”

Shaw was insulted. Whatever she'd done couldn't have been _that_ bad if she couldn't remember it.

“Why not?”

The bartender leaned across the bar on one meaty fist. “Last time you were here you destroyed half my tavern. Broke all the windows, half the chairs, two tables, and my _nose_. Eight men needed healing that night.”

Dim memories resurfaced. It must have been at least four years ago and she'd been here with Cole and had easily won his little drinking competition. She'd been trading glances with some mysterious looking man in a cloak who'd been hanging out in the corner all night and she hadn't noticed how rowdy the crowd had gotten until someone had crashed into Cole where he was sleeping peacefully with his face on the bar and sent him sprawling. Shaw'd had no choice but to retaliate in kind and, well, it was hardly her fault that all the other patrons couldn't fight worth a damn.

“Ohhh, right. Really sorry about all that, but I'm just here for a quiet drink today, I promise.”

The bartender looked like he was going to argue until Shaw slipped him a few extra coins.

“One drink, then you leave.”

“Of course.” She hadn't planned to stay long anyway. “And since you're so eager to keep an eye on me, perhaps you could fill me in on the latest word on the street. I've been out in the wilds for a spell and I'm a bit behind.” She tapped her coin purse idly with one finger.

The bartender sighed. “I suppose it couldn't hurt.”

* * *

 

“Oh, John?”

“Now who's breaking the no talking rule?”

The flash of lightning that split the branch above him and rained down twigs and leaves made him jump, and with the branch gone, the reasonable amount of protection it had been providing him from the downpour was suddenly gone as well.

Under her own tree, Root smirked and wrapped herself tighter in her cloak.

* * *

 

“No word of anything else then?” Shaw was a bit disappointed. She didn't want them to have to hide everywhere they went, but they'd taken down an entire squad of the provincial army and half-destroyed Provincial Intelligence's headquarters. Was a vague rumor too much to ask for?

“The Imperial visit isn't exciting enough for you?” The bartender was only half-watching her, most of his attention focused on the noisy group in the corner.

“Got nothing to do with me.” The Imperials left the provinces alone for the most part. They had their representatives and overseers stationed here to keep an eye on things and as long as money and goods were being delivered they didn't care how much all the provinces fought against each other. The upcoming visit of Imperial representatives to the capital wasn't unprecedented, but it was unusual. Still, Shaw didn't see that it had anything to do with her.

“Maybe if you told me what sort of rumors it is you're looking for, I could...oh, not again!” The bartender reached under the bar and came up with a leather-wrapped bludgeon.

The arguing group in the corner had turned into a brawl which Shaw turned to watch with enthusiasm. The fight seemed to be spreading to other sections of the bar room and the bartender hesitated, looking distressed.

Shaw downed the rest of her drink and stood up. “Tell you what, how about I help you sort this lot out and in return you give me and my friends a nice discount on rooms for the night. Oh, and baths.”

The bartender looked down at her for a long moment and then sighed. “If you can keep anyone from breaking the damn windows again, I'll throw in dinner as well.”

* * *

 

“If Shaw doesn't get back soon, I may commit a murder, and I know you don't like it when I do that,” Root hissed under her breath.

_~Shaw will return shortly.~_

It was the first useful status update Machina had given her other than that Shaw was fine and didn't need their help. Maybe threatening violence against John was all it took to get Her to divulge information.

At least it was warm enough out that she wasn't completely freezing after being drenched in the rain, but her wet clothes were very uncomfortable. The sooner Shaw got back, the better.

_~You have been very worried about her while she's been gone.~_

“If something happened to Shaw I'd be stuck with the big lug.” Though she'd probably just ditch him.

_~Why do you find her company preferable to his?~_

Root glanced over at where John was huddled miserably under a tree a short distance away, Bear curled up at his feet. He almost definitely couldn't hear her as long as she kept her voice down.

“Shaw is...well, she's fascinating, really.” It didn't feel like quite the right word, but she couldn't think of a better one. “And _extremely_ nice to look at.” She wondered if spirits understood physical attraction, or sex. Did spirits have some form of sex?

_~You desire her.~_

“Obviously.” She chewed her lip and debated again whether or not to bring up the question that had been bothering her for the last day or two, ever since the day they'd done that little experiment at the cave. “Back when we first met, when I was twelve, I saw...well, I guess they were like visions? There were so many of them and so many variations of each that I don't remember a lot.”

_~Possible futures. Spirits can see many of the paths the future might take, a side-effect of being able to see so much of the world at once. Nothing you saw is certain to happen. They were only possibilities.~_

“I suppose that makes sense.”

It was the vision of herself lying in the darkness with another woman that she kept coming back to. It wasn't as if she hadn't slept with any women in her life--on the contrary there'd be quite a few--but none of those encounters had come close to encapsulating the feeling that had permeated that particular vision. She wasn't sure if she ever wanted to find herself in a situation that did.

_~Was there one in particular you were curious about? Perhaps I can shed some light on it.~_

It was tempting, but…. “No, not yet anyway, but thank you.”

_~Of course.~_

It was reassuring to realize that She would always be right there, listening, whenever Root spoke to Her. Especially reassuring due to her...injury.

She hadn't gotten used to it yet, and even though she logically knew that she'd adjust to her new situation to some extent, right now it felt like she never would. Sometimes she'd turn towards a noise only to discover it hadn't come from where she'd thought it had at all, or miss part or all of something one of the others said to her. They'd both been being careful to stay on the side of her good ear for which she was both grateful and deeply annoyed by at the same time. The entire thing was disorienting and she hated that she was being inconvenienced by her own body in this way.

She hadn't told the others about the little exercise she and Machina had been working on. She didn't think she could deal with their sympathy if it didn't work out (John's anyway. She didn't think Shaw was the sympathetic sort and that was weirdly reassuring). Machina had been practicing with her a little every day, pulling in the sounds from the environment and sending them to Root in the same manner in which She spoke to her. The effect was odd to say the least. It was often like hearing an echo of everything and made the direction even harder to sort out, but they were both working on refining it and Machina at least had hope that it would ultimately prove to be useful and maybe make up for some fraction of what she'd lost.

“What the hell happened to you two?”

Root looked up to see Shaw slip into view from between the trees.

“It rained,” John said, and Root was fine with leaving it at that.

“Well, I've got us half-priced rooms and baths at the tavern in town. And free dinner. So get off your asses.”

The promise of warmth and food spurred Root to action and she got up off the damp ground to fetch her horse.

“Thought the plan was to keep going and find another town to stay the night in?” John asked as they set out towards town.

“Free food and cheap beds for the night is the best deal we're going to get. Seemed dumb to pass up on it.”

Shaw looked entirely too pleased with herself and Root wished Machina had been more forthcoming on what Shaw had gotten up to in town.

“And just how did you negotiate such a good deal?” she asked.

“My winning personality. Also I beat up a bunch of drunken idiots in the tavern and only broke one chair the whole time.”

It was unfair that Shaw had been having all the fun while Root had been stuck in the rainy woods with John and the animals, but at least she didn't have to wait much longer to be clean and warm again.

The tavern Shaw brought them to was the largest in town, but that wasn't saying much. The common room was reasonably full when they entered, but most people barely glanced at them. Shaw had said there was some kind of market going on in town that had brought in a lot of outsiders.

There weren't that many free rooms due to the market, but Shaw had managed to get them one private room plus an extra bed in another room (Bear had to sleep in the stables, much to Shaw's outrage). John looked a bit disgruntled that he'd be sharing with some unknown guests, but Root was extremely pleased with the arrangements. Just because the tiny room she was going to share with Shaw had two beds didn't mean they needed to use both of them, not for the entire night anyway.

“Baths first and then food,” Shaw said, dumping her bags on the floor of their room. “We've got the bath room downstairs to ourselves for the next hour. Reese gets it for half an hour later.” Shaw started pulling things out of her pack. “I'm going to rig something up in here to make sure no one helps themselves to our stuff. You should head down first.”

Root wasn't sure if this meant that she was supposed to be done by the time Shaw got downstairs or not, but she had no plans to miss out on this opportunity.

The bath room turned out to be a decently-sized windowless room behind the kitchen with three large copper tubs and a drain in the middle of the floor. Someone had left buckets of streaming hot water there for them and the chef, a large woman who looked like she know how to use the massive knife she was carrying, assured her that no gentlemen would disturb her while she bathed.

Root poured water into one of the tubs and then scrubbed herself down with water from another bucket and some of the clean cloth left for that purpose. When she was acceptably clean she sank into the almost-too-hot water with a sigh of contentment. She'd had to remove the bandages from her arms and shoulder, and her wounds stung in the hot water, but it was worth it. It'd been far too long since she'd felt this clean and relaxed.

She'd almost forgotten Shaw was going to show up until she heard the door creak open.

“Thank fuck,” Shaw said when she saw the hot water.

Root was a bit disappointed by the fact Shaw barely glanced at her, but she didn't have too much time for disappointment when Shaw started striping. It probably would have been the polite thing to look away, but Root had never been very good at polite and not staring at the sculpted muscles and alluring curves of Shaw's body would have been a crime. She'd seen various parts of Shaw when she'd changed clothes during their time in the cave, but she hadn't seen her completely naked and in decent light.

She had less scars than Root would have expected, though she wondered if that was related to Shaw's skill. Did her self-healing allow her to avoid scarring more easily? The thought was driven from her mind almost instantly by the sight of droplets of water rolling down Shaw's back as she scrubbed the dirt from the forest off herself.

“If you pass out in there, I'm not fishing you out.”

Root tore her eyes away from Shaw's body to see that she was watching her with mild amusement. Before she could think of a response, Shaw sank down into her own tub with a satisfied groan.

“You know,” Shaw said after a few quiet minutes of enjoyment, “in any army or mercenary band, staring at other people like that in the baths would earn you a broken nose.”

“Sorry,” Root said, even if she was anything but. “You might be shocked to hear this, but I don't have a lot of experience with military bathing etiquette.”

Though she'd noticed that John hadn't batted an eye when Shaw changed her shirt in the cave, but had politely turned away whenever she herself did. There must be rules that Shaw and John followed based on their shared experiences in the military which didn't apply to her. It was a little odd to realize that and she wished that she'd thought to infiltrate the provincial army at some point earlier in her life.

Shaw chuckled. “I wasn't complaining. Just pointing out you'd get your teeth bashed in under other circumstances.”

“Well--” Root carefully stood up, water cascading off of her and splashing across the floor. “--feel free to return the favor.”

It was exhilarating to watch Shaw's eyes roam over her body and see the way her fingers tightened slightly on the edge of the tub. So much for her military training. If there'd been any doubt in Root's mind about Shaw's attraction to her, it was gone now.

But despite her obvious interest, Shaw had never really responded definitively to any of Root's obvious hints, which meant this was as far as she was going to push. The next step, if there was one, would have to be Shaw's. Root turned away and went to find a clean towel and her change of clothes.

“Wait.”

She turned back to find Shaw still staring at her. “Something you wanted, Shaw?”

Shaw's eyes finally met hers. “You say one smart-ass thing and this ends. Now are you gonna get over here, or what?”

Root's face split into a grin. “Thought you'd never ask.”

 

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

It was all the invitation she needed to cross the room and climb into the tub with Shaw. The tubs were large, made so that someone much more massive than either of them could submerge themself, but Shaw had filled it to the brim and water sloshed all over the floor as Root lowered herself into the tub, her knees on either side of Shaw's thighs so she was basically sitting in her lap.

“Well,” Root purred, lacing her fingers together behind Shaw's neck. “Guess you can't take a bath without getting wet.”

“You make one more bad joke and all you're getting is dumped on the floor.”

From up close she could see the depths of Shaw's dark eyes, the way strands of wet hair clung to her neck, and the droplets of water that rolled down her collar bones and lower. The feel of Shaw's body, warm and wet against her own, was unbelievable, and Root rocked up against her to feel their skin brush together.

The movement sparked something wild in Shaw's eyes, and she reached for Root, one hand sliding into her hair to pull her down into a desperate kiss. Root moaned into the kiss, pathetically grateful to finally feel Shaw's lips on her own, Shaw's teeth nipping at her lip, and Shaw's tongue sliding past her open lips into her mouth. She pressed herself closer to Shaw, trying to feel as much of her body against hers as she could.

She'd wanted this since all the way back when she'd abducted Shaw and chained her to a bed, and since then the feeling had only grown stronger. She could barely believe that this was finally happening.

It was a shame that she couldn't use her blessing in a tub full of water to add a little extra sensation, but both the metal and the water made it too risky. She couldn't be too disappointed though with the feeling of Shaw underneath her in the hot water.

The tub forced them apart momentarily, the smooth surface causing them to slip and almost get dunked underwater. The both pulled back, regaining their balance and their breath.

“You know,” Shaw said between heavy breaths, “I'm gonna have to rebandage all that shit for you later. Probably shouldn't even be in a bath yet with those injuries.”

Root traced Shaw's collar bone with one finger and then scratched it lightly with her nail, delighting in the way it made Shaw's breath hitch. “My healer must have forgotten to tell me that.”

Shaw was staring at her lips. “Yeah, must have slipped my mind.”

And then they were kissing again and Shaw's hands slid around her so she could dig her fingernails into Root's ass and some small part of Root's mind that remained logical thought that maybe it wouldn't be great to sit in a saddle with a bruised ass tomorrow, but the thought was quickly overruled by the part of her that thought it would be a thrilling reminder of Shaw's hands on her. There was no easy way for her to repay the favor without the risk of dunking them both again, but that hardly mattered when Shaw's breasts were right in front of her demanding her attention.

She ducked her head down to run her tongue along the scratches she'd left on Shaw's collar bones, and then further down to bite lightly at the top of one of her breasts. Shaw twitched a little when Root's teeth bit down, just hard enough to hurt a little, and the enthusiastic moan it pulled from her encouraged Root to bite harder.

She left a trail of bite marks along the tops of both of Shaw's breasts before scooting back a tiny bit so she could take one her nipples into her mouth and alternate between nipping at it and rolling over it with her tongue.

One of Shaw's hands left Root's ass to dig into her shoulder, nails biting in just hard enough to sting wonderfully.

Root's head jerked up when she felt Shaw's other hand sliding up her thigh. She swallowed heavily, unable to do anything about the smug little smile on Shaw's lips.

The first touch of Shaw's fingers against her made her shiver all over and she pressed herself into Shaw's touch as much as the precarious tub situation allowed. She'd been imagining Shaw touching her, fucking her, maybe even tasting her since that ridiculous first day when she'd abducted her, and now here she was, crammed into an overflowing tub in the middle of nowhere with Shaw's hands on her body.

“You good?” Shaw asked, and Root wondered what expression she must have on her face right now.

“Oh, I'm _extremely_ good, Shaw.”

Shaw chuckled and her fingers sped up their motions, rubbing circles over her in a way that made her muscles clench and her stomach flutter. Water splashed everywhere as she desperately tried to grab the edges of the tub for balance.

“Here.” Shaw grabbed one of her hands (carefully avoiding the burns above her wrists) and placed it on her shoulder. Root got the idea and braced herself against Shaw, fingers digging into her shoulders as Shaw's other hand kept doing amazing things between her legs.

She made a slight whine of protest when Shaw's fingers pulled away, only to have it turn into the most pathetically wanton noise she'd ever heard escape her own lips when Shaw slid into her with a single finger. Shaw didn't waste any time, her finger thrusting into Root in a rhythm that was nearly too fast. Root almost asked her to slow down, let her savor the feel of Shaw inside her more fully, but they didn't have an infinite amount of time here and there was always later tonight in their shared room, she reminded herself. They'd have more options there, too, without the tub. The image of Shaw's head between her legs floated through her mind and she damn near came from that alone.

But there was no way she planned to let Shaw get her off before she'd even had a chance to touch her, so she slid her own hand down under the water, fingers tracing along Shaw's forearm as she flexed it to enter Root with a second finger.

Root paused her hand's downwards journey as she adjusted to this new feeling of fullness, but then Shaw's fingers were moving in earnest again and Root remembered her mission and explored further down Shaw's body.

Shaw must have gotten the idea, because she shifted, spreading her legs enough that Root could slide her hand between them. It was a bit of a squeeze, but Root absolutely couldn't have given a damn about that once her fingers reached their goal and found Shaw slick and ready for her.

She'd barely had time to get her fingers inside Shaw before she felt herself spasming and clamping down on Shaw's fingers. Through some miracle she managed not to slip as her orgasm overtook her and she shuddered against Shaw.

It took her a few moments to regain her focus enough to remember that she still had unfinished business here and start thrusting into Shaw in earnest. It was almost hypnotic watching the pleasure dance across Shaw's face as she pressed her head back against the edge of the tub. She felt immensely pleased with herself and surprisingly powerful when she pushed Shaw over the edge and watched the muscles in her arms tense up beautifully as she clung to the edges of the tub.

She sat back as Shaw recovered, becoming aware again of the cramped discomfort of the tub and the pain from her still-healing injuries. Definitely worth it though, she thought as she stared at Shaw's kiss-bruised lips and the line of reddening bite marks along the tops of her breasts. Maybe Shaw could be persuaded to even the score up on that count later.

“Get off,” Shaw said when she regained her voice. It wasn't an angry command, more a pointed request, and Root didn't argue. The tub had become extremely uncomfortable now, and she thought her legs might be bruised from pressing into it.

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

 

Neither of them said much as they dried off and dressed, but Root was assured by the lingering looks Shaw cast over her body as she dressed that revisiting this was definitely on the table.

“I should at least wrap those in something before we go to eat,” Shaw said as they left the bathroom and headed past the very knowing smirk of the chef.

Root looked down at her arms and the healing burns, redder now from the water. She had a feeling the stinging ache in them was only going to get worse as the last tendrils of pleasure faded from her system.

“You can do whatever you want to me, sweetie.”

Shaw rolled her eyes and hurried her towards their room. “Food first. Then we can get back to that.”

* * *

 

Despite the fact she was starving, Shaw took her time rebandaging Root's arms and shoulder. Touching Root at all was a bit...distracting with the fun they'd had in the tub still fresh in her mind, but she let herself sink into her work.

Root, for her part, sat completely still while Shaw worked and didn't make any even slightly inappropriate remarks for a change. Shaw had been a little worried she might be all clingy now, but Root didn't really seem like the type. That was good though. Meant they could hopefully keep up this arrangement without it getting weird.

Shaw tied off the last bit of bandaging and tested to make sure it was loose enough. “That should do it.”

“I suppose I should find something with long enough sleeves to cover these up,” Root said, examining her arms. “This is the sort of injury that someone might remember.”

“Oh.” Shaw had almost forgotten about her purchase from earlier. She turned away from Root's inquisitive look to pull the bracers she'd bought out of her cloak. She dropped them in Root's lap.

“Figured you could wear these after you heal up. Scars like yours might cause comment, but no one's going to look twice at these.” It occurred to her that between the sex and her giving Root a gift that Root might think this all meant...well, whatever it was that things like that sometimes meant. Things she definitely hadn't meant any of it to mean. She watched Root's expression closely, but she was exceptionally hard to read right now.

“That was good thinking,” Root said after a minute. She ran her fingers over the soft black leather of the bracers and examined the ties. “And these are quite well-made, too. Should be just the thing to keep them hidden.”

Shaw felt a little of the tension in her shoulders ease up. “If they don't fit right I might be able to adjust them with the right tools. And probably just go with long sleeves for now. Don't want them to rub and irritate your arms while they're still healing.”

She tried to wait patiently while Root slipped into a different shirt to keep her arms covered, but the smells of food from the common room below were tantalizing and she came close to abandoning Root in search of dinner.

Reese had already found a seat at one of the long tables in the tavern bar and was halfway through a mug of ale and a plate heaped with food when they joined him. Shaw signaled a serving boy and waited impatiently until she had her own dinner laid out in front of her.

“You two look a lot cleaner,” Reese said as Shaw crammed half a chunk of bread into her mouth. “Take it the baths here were worth it then?”

Shaw choked a little and had to be patted on the back a few times. She avoided Reese's concerned stare by burying herself in her mug of ale. She froze, mug halfway back to the table when she heard Root start to answer.

“There was plenty of hot water and everything looked clean enough. I certainly had no complaints.”

Shaw squinted at her suspiciously. Was that really all she was going to say?

“That's good then.” Reese looked back and forth between them, clearly aware that he was missing something, but not able to pinpoint what.

“We should get out of here before sunrise tomorrow to make up for the time we lost today,” Shaw said, hoping to change the subject. “Is there some kind of time constraint we're working against here?”

Root listened quietly for a second. “She says the sooner the better, but She can't be sure of exact times.”

“And what exactly is going to happen anyway?” Reese asked. “How do we know there even is a threat?”

Root looked like she had a sharp retort ready, but she stopped before it escaped her lips. “Remember your concern about having a spirit on our plane?”

“Yeah, though so far nothing too terrible has happened.” Shaw looked down at her empty plate in disgust. Would the bartender charge her for seconds? “What's your point?”

“What if there was another, less friendly spirit trying to get to this plane?”

Shaw momentarily forgot about her imminent starvation. “Another one? Why? Would that even benefit it?”

Root shrugged. “We don't really know enough to have all the answers yet, but She doesn't think it'll have our best interests at heart, to say the least.”

Root clammed up after that and the rest of the meal was spent in uneasy silence. Reese left them to go take his turn in the baths while Root continued to eat at the pace of a snail.

“Are you even going to finish that?”

“Sometimes I like to take my time, Shaw. Really _savor_ things.”

The innuendo seemed to be back now that Reese had left and Shaw begrudgingly admitted that it was nice that Root had left it up to her to decide if she cared if Reese knew that they'd fucked. Were fucking. Because Shaw was planning for a repeat as soon as Root stopped eating at a rate of approximately one bite per hour.

“You know, since we're leaving so early tomorrow, we're going to have to go to sleep early to make up for it. Would be a shame to spend your evening savoring the wrong things.”

Root’s fork hesitated in midair and Shaw smirked. Two could play at the innuendo game. Root finished the rest of her meal far more quickly and Shaw exchanged an almost-respectful nod with the bartender before they headed back upstairs.

The beds in their room were narrow, definitely too small to allow two people to sleep in them comfortably (which Shaw was thankful for. She didn't think Root was planning on trying that, but now it wasn't even an option), but an acceptable size for her to shove Root down on one and climb on top of her.

Root's fingers roamed up Shaw's bare sides as they kissed and Shaw twitched at the slight prickle of electricity that followed. She grabbed Root's wrists and glared down at her.

“What was that for?”

Root grinned and waggled her fingers. “I know trust isn't your thing, sweetie, but you're going to miss out.”

It wasn't like she couldn't just absorb her power if Root really tried something, and that first faint burst of electricity along her skin had been...stimulating.

“You were interested in how finely I could control my blessing. How about a little demonstration?” Root twisted her wrist around so she could touch Shaw's hand with a single finger. A faint tingling ran up Shaw's arm, definitely not painful, but not like anything she'd ever felt before. Her mind wandered wondering what it might feel like on other parts of her body. There was a lot of potential here...if she was willing to trust Root enough.

Root lay still under her, waiting for her to make up her mind. Her smile was a little too smug, like she just _knew_ what Shaw's choice would be, and it made Shaw want to say no just to piss her off.

Root bit her lower lip and shifted under Shaw just enough to draw Shaw's attention down her body and then back up to her annoying face.

She released Root's hands. “Fine, but you try anything…”

“Oh, there are plenty of things I'd like to try, but I think you'll enjoy all of them immensely.”

“Yeah, we'll see about that.” Though Shaw was inclined to believe her. “Before that, though--” She sat up enough to reach for Root's belt. Fucking in a tub had turned out to be a lot more limiting than she'd realized and there were things she hadn't gotten a chance to do then that had been in the back of her mind all through dinner.

Root ran her fingers down Shaw's arms, the slightest trace of a tingling sensation following in their wake. “Just remember we both need to be able to sit in our saddles tomorrow.”

It was finally Shaw's turn to look smug. “You're forgetting that I can heal just about anything you throw at me with very little effort. So, you--” She gave a sharp tug at Root's belt, pulling a gasp out of her. “--might have to worry about that, but I'll be fine.”

Root's eyes gleamed as if she'd taken that as a challenge. “We'll see about that.”

Reese had to pound on their door for over ten minutes in the morning to wake them up.


	8. Swamp

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> is there, you ask, a reason that all the chapter titles are a single word? no, no there is not. i am just bad at thinking up names.

Root had never enjoyed waking up early (especially not before sunrise), but her new travelling companions both turned out to be obnoxiously early risers. She'd been so exhausted the night after they'd stayed at the inn that she'd fallen asleep shortly after they'd made camp and hadn't even woken up for dinner (John had thoughtfully saved her some).

Shaw and John seemed to be doing just fine though, but while John probably hadn't stayed up almost all night at the tavern engaging in vigorous physical activity, Shaw definitely had and yet didn't seem to be paying for her lack of sleep at all, a situation which Root found to be extremely unfair. As was the fact that Root had to deal with bruises, bites, and scratches in very inconvenient places that rubbed against her clothes as she rode, while Shaw had no problems at all despite Root's best efforts.

The rapidly rising temperature as they rode further east didn't help either. It was only late spring, but the humidity of the increasingly swamp-like region was horrible and made her clothing and hair stick to her. The healing wounds under their bandages all itched fiercely, too, and Shaw seemed to have some unnatural ability to detect when Root was trying to scratch them.

Even Machina was against her on this.

_~Sameen Shaw was concerned about infection. Her training in healing was quite extensive so it would be wise to listen to her.~_

They were teaming up on her without Shaw even realizing it and that was the most unfair part of all of this.

“Shit.”

Root looked up in surprise; John wasn't usually the one cursing. She craned her neck around her horse's head to see that they'd reached the border of the actual swamp. In front of them stretched murky pools of water and thick, tangled trees and vines. Bear hung back behind John's horse and whined nervously.

“Horses aren't going to be able to get through this stuff,” Shaw said. “Think we need to circle around and find a trail.” Her horse stamped his feet and eyed the swamp ahead warily and Shaw leaned forwards to pat his neck. “If there even _is_ a trail.”

Shaw's horse, Root had noticed, had also benefited from Shaw's shopping trip in the town, as he now had a much nicer saddle of darkened leather covered with decorative dull metal studs (blackened so they wouldn't reflect of course).

_~I can guide you to the trail.~_

“There you are.” Machina had been silent for the last half hour and Root had been shocked by how quickly she'd become used to Her frequent comments and insights and how quiet it seemed without Her. “Machina can get us to a trail from here.”

“Could get used to this sort of help,” Shaw said when they reached the rough path ten minutes later. “Saves a lot of time.”

The trail looked muddy and poorly maintained, narrow enough that they'd have to ride single file.

“She can do much more than that. For example, there's soldiers ahead waiting to ambush us.”

Both of the others turned to stare at her.

“How many?” John asked even as Shaw asked, “Whose soldiers?”

“Five, and not from this province.”

Shaw's eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Imperials?”

“No, they're from the southern province.” Machina knew frustratingly little about them, though. Something had interfered with Her ability to observe their new enemies fully.

“Why would they be waiting to ambush _us_ then?” Shaw asked. “Are the other provinces mixed up in this mess as well?”

“Not exactly.” It was another thing Machina didn't have an the answers for. “I'll explain later when it's safe.” Though she wasn't sure what she'd say.

The other two didn't look thrilled, but they didn't argue either.

Shaw peered down the narrow trail. “How're they positioned up ahead?”

“In the trees on either side of the path. Two to the left and three to the right.” Root listened to Machina's detailed descriptions. “All armed with daggers, clothes dyed to let them blend in. None of them have blessings we need to worry about, though they've all got darts with powerful sedatives. She's fairly certain their orders are to bring us back alive, but She doesn't know for what purpose. Oh, and they've been staking out this path for the last three hours.”

John frowned at that. “Only three hours? That feels like they knew about when we'd be getting here.”

_~They were given information ahead of time, but do not have any way of learning more now. They know you are coming, but nothing more.~_

It begged the question of who was giving out that information, but Root knew she'd also have to wait for answers.

“They were tipped off, but we've got the advantage here still.”

Shaw nodded and slid off her horse onto the muddy trail. “I have an idea.”

* * *

 

Special Lieutenant Ferdinand Hooper of the southern provincial army was having a bad week.

He was used to vague orders from his superiors and not knowing the true purpose of his mission, but this one was a new extreme. He'd been told to take his men and apprehend some dangerous northerners and to bring them back alive. The descriptions of the northerners had been fairly well rounded out for two of them and unbelievably vague for the third. Still, it hadn't sounded too unreasonable.

But that was when things had gotten more complicated. The northerners weren't in the southern province; they were still in their own territory. And there were in fact _four_ teams besides his making their way across the border to help hunt them down. Things got even more complicated when they'd all ended up in a humid, muddy swamp full of flies and extremely large reptiles and had broken off from the other groups with the instructions to lay an ambush in this general area and wait for half a day. If no one showed up they were to return to the agreed upon meeting point.

Understanding why his superiors ordered him to do things wasn't a huge priority for him since things like that tended to get a man in trouble, but three hours of sitting in a tree, sweating and covered in bug bites was really making him feel like he was owed some answers.

He'd just finished counting the vines hanging from a nearby tree for the third time when he finally heard the sound of someone approaching. Footsteps, not the sound of hooves, meant they were on foot and it sounded like only a single person.

Lieutenant Ferdinand made eye contact with the man in the tree next to his and then with the three others on the other side of the road.

A lone woman wandered into sight, strolling along as if she didn't have a care in the world. The sketch of her he'd seen when being assigned this mission hadn't been the best, but it had been close enough that he could recognize her--Sameen Shaw, the only one of their targets that didn't have a blessing. She was supposed to be uniquely gifted at fighting, but he was still glad he had gotten the least dangerous of the three.

He couldn't understand how someone who he'd been told was so clever would be walking through a swamp with no regard for their surroundings, but he didn't plan to let the chance go to waste. He pulled one of his darts out from inside his cloak and carefully aimed for her neck.

The dart hit its mark perfectly and the woman folded up, sank to the ground in the most drawn-out and dramatic collapse he'd ever seen, and then lay still, face-down in the road.

He hesitated--that had seemed way too easy, but it wasn't like she could be immune to sedatives or something ridiculous like that. Finally he motioned for one of his men to go investigate.

His man cautiously left his perch and approached the unconscious woman in the road. He prodded her with his boot and, when he got no response, flipped her over onto her back.

Her eyes were wide open and her lips curved into a grin even as Ferdinand watched.

The events of the next few seconds were all a little blurry to him. First there was a bright bluish light that ripped across the swamp. The tree his men were in on the other side of the road split in half and his men went tumbling to the ground. He only had half a second to register that his man on the road was down and the woman called Sameen Shaw was on her feet again before everything shook violently, like a great force had slammed into his tree, and he was flying through the air.

There was a strangely detached and elongated moment where he clearly saw Sameen Shaw on the road below him as he was propelled forwards and then somehow she was much closer to him despite the fact he didn't seem to be closer to the ground and something crashed into him and the world flipped upside down and he slammed into the ground. A fraction of a second later a great weight landed on his stomach, driving the breath out of him and he looked up through watery eyes to see that Sameen Shaw had landed on him in some near-impossible feat of acrobatics.

She grinned at him before she reached up and pulled, yes, that was the dart he had thrown still in her neck, and dropped it on him.

“I hear all of you boys have a few of these,” she said and crouched down to check his pockets and cloak. “Ah-hah.”

He'd only just started to feel recovered enough to maybe try moving (though he thought some of his ribs might be cracked), when he felt the prick of a dart in his neck and the world started going black.

The last thing he heard as he drifted off was a woman's voice saying, “Nice landing, sweetie.”

If he ever woke up again, he decided, he was resigning and moving to the countryside, far away from swamps and mad women.

* * *

 

Shaw swatted a fly on the side of her neck--third one in the last ten minutes. “Maybe they thought putting the anchor in the middle of a swamp would keep people from stumbling on it.”

“That was exactly what they thought,” Root confirmed. “Two anchors close to their two bases so they could keep an eye on them, and the third somewhere no one would ever want to go.”

It was clever, Shaw admitted, but it was really damned inconvenient. The stupid swamp seemed interminable especially now that they were all on foot. After the third time they'd hit a place where the twisted trees and vines had grown too tightly over the path for horses to pass through, they'd decided that instead of wasting more time clearing the road, they'd be better off walking.

The detour back to find a stable to board the horses (as luck (or someone's keen business sense) would have it there were three stables that provided such a service right near the border of the swamp) had cost them hours, but it was definitely easier to deal with the terrain this way.

It also meant there was an unfortunate amount of mud from the trail on them now, and Bear (who had refused to be left behind with the horses) was coated in it. Shaw was not looking forwards to the process of getting all the mud off of him later.

“Does Machina have any idea why soldiers from the southern province were looking for us?” Reese asked. “I killed plenty of them over the years in the army, but I was just another soldier. Is it one of you two they're after?”

Shaw had been wondering about that herself. She'd done some nastier missions in the southern province a few times, but not anything that merited this sort of retaliation so deep inside the northern province territory.

“Your time in the army has nothing to do with it. They were after anyone connected to Machina.” Root fumbled with a strand of leather while she talked, trying to tie her hair back despite being unable to fully raise her injured arm. “They don't know a lot about me because I figured out how to hide myself from the spirits ages ago, but they know I exist. The two of you, however, they know a lot about.”

“How're you hiding yourself from the spirits?” Shaw asked.

“And why does the southern province know or care about Machina?” Reese added.

Root was still struggling with her hair, and Reese stepped towards her as if to offer to help. She shot him down with an icy glare and turned to smile at Shaw.

“Can you give me a hand with this?”

“No.”

She hadn't realized Root had the ability to look like the saddest puppy in the province or that it would actually make her almost reconsider. Root moved her arm and gave a sad, little pained whimper and even stupid Reese was looking at her like she was supposed to fix this now.

“Ugh, whatever. Hold still.”

Root's hair, while showing the effects of being in the humid weather, was still fine and silky between Shaw's fingers as she tied it back for her. It was unfair that it was still so nice after the better part of a day in this swamp, and also unfair that it made Shaw think about the last time she'd had her hands in Root's hair. The bruise on the side of Root's neck, revealed when her hair was pulled back, was also distracting.

“Keep talking,” she ordered, hoping to prevent her brain from going further down a very nice but poorly timed tangent.

“Your battering ram of a partner asked about the southern province. Machina isn't completely sure why they're so interested in Her and Her human allies, but considering the advantage She gives our province in terms of intelligence can you blame them?”

Shaw tied off the leather strap and stepped away. “Okay, but how did they find out about her? I mean I was technically working for her for years and I had no clue.”

Root reached up with her good arm and ran her fingers over the leather strap. “She's not completely sure. She has some ideas, but nothing She's willing to share yet.” She let her arm drop and turned to smile at Shaw again. “Thanks, sweetie.”

Shaw scowled at the word (though she had yet to tell Root to stop using it. It would only encourage her, she'd decided) and started walking again. The path was extra muddy here and her boots left deep wet footprints. There'd be no covering their trail here.

“Are we going to make it to this anchor tonight?” Reese asked as he struggled to free his boot from some particularly deep mud. “Because it's starting to get dark and I don't want to be wandering around blind in this mess.”

Root listened quietly for a second and then shook her head. “Tomorrow, I'm afraid, but She says there's some drier land over that way where we can camp for the night.” She pointed off into the swampy forest.

Reese sighed. “I'll go look, I guess. If I'm not back in ten minutes, assume I've been eaten by one of those giant reptiles.”

Shaw's surprise that he'd volunteered only lasted until she realized he was trying to get out of being stuck alone with Root again. Fine. Worked out great for her, even if there was no good way to make use of their alone time in the middle of a swamp. And even without the possibility of sex, she didn't mind being stuck with Root.

“Can I ask you something, Shaw?”

“Uh, sure.” The fact that Root had asked felt suspicious.

“You mentioned that Provincial Intelligence knew you were still alive before we broke into their headquarters. I'd have thought you would have wanted to keep the fact you survived their poisoning attempt a secret. It would have been safer for you.”

“I had some unfinished business with them.” She still had unfinished business with them, but the most pressing issue had been laid to rest.

“Revenge?” Root tilted her head and looked Shaw up and down as if she was trying to figure her out. “You don't strike me as the type to pass up a perfectly good opportunity to vanish for something like revenge.”

Root was half-right about that. Shaw wouldn't have immediately let Provincial Intelligence know she was still alive if it had only been a matter of getting revenge for her own attempted murder--no, she would have waited and watched for the right moment for years if necessary--but it hadn't been about her.

“You spent a lot of time spying on Provincial Intelligence, didn't you?”

“A bit, I suppose.” Root's half-smile meant that it had probably been a lot more than just ‘a bit’.

“Then what's one of the things that's true of the way their agents operate on missions? How are they sent out?”

Root's eyes widened slightly and then narrowed. “Pairs. They killed your partner, too.”

“Turned out he'd been asking some questions they didn't much like, about that same man you asked about--Aquino. They separated us. Hersh said he needed me for a special mission with just him, and, well, you know how that turned out. And my partner also got sent on an unusual mission he wasn't supposed to come back from.” She hadn't been surprised to find out he'd died, but she'd had some small shred of hope that maybe he'd found a way to run and hide.

“So you got revenge for him?” Root looked genuinely interested, instead of like she was prying for information the way she sometimes did.

“Reese and I found out he'd died and then--” Shaw had known she'd be putting herself back in danger if she went looking for revenge, and that it wouldn't make any difference to the dead, but there were rules, _her_ rules that she'd made for herself, and they had demanded that she did something.

“I thought about waiting, letting Provincial Intelligence forget about me so they wouldn't necessarily tie any deaths to me, but I wanted them to know. Felt like part of the whole act of revenge was making sure they knew why.”

Root looked thoughtful. “Why not kill Control then? Surely she must have signed off on your deaths?”

“Oh, she's still on my list, but the person I went after was our commanding officer, the agent in charge of us who'd given the order. And he's dead now and Provincial Intelligence knows exactly why.” And now that Root had seen Control and knew what she looked like, maybe it would be easier to hunt her down eventually.

“Are you planning to take down all of Provincial Intelligence?”

“No, why would I? They exist to help protect the province and mostly that's what they do. I've got nothing against the organization except when they're trying to kill me.” She would never have pretended that what Provincial Intelligence agents did was nice or fair or heroic, but she'd helped save a lot of lives over the years working with them.

Root was still watching her like she was a puzzle to be solved.

“Why do you care, anyway?” Shaw asked. “Machina want to take on Provincial Intelligence?” She had ample reason to be pissed at them.

“No, quite the contrary. She agrees with you.”

Shaw had never spoken to Machina, but she was starting to get a feel for what she was like through Root and she felt slightly pleased that Machina agreed with her.

“What was your partner's name?”

It was an odd question since Shaw would have bet Root had been snooping around before she'd abducted her and should know his name already. Or she could have just asked Machina. So why ask her?

Root's face was carefully neutral now, giving away nothing, but there was something ever so slight in her body language that suggested nervousness to Shaw. Like she was worried Shaw didn't want to tell her. Like it mattered to her if Shaw trusted her enough to tell her the name.

She didn't particularly care if Root knew his name; there was nothing she could do with it. Root cared about names, though--about her own, and about Machina's.

Shaw looked Root over: her mud-splattered clothes, her hair pulled back, the dagger sheathed at her belt, and those injuries she'd gotten from helping Shaw--the bandaged arms and that one bandage behind her ear. She was hardly recognizable as the same person who'd captured Shaw all those months ago, and she looked unusually serious now, no traces of her normal teasing manner visible.

“His name was Cole.”

Shaw turned away to peer into the woods to see if she could see any sign of Reese, but she could still sense the smile on Root's face like it was a ray of warmth from the sun on her back.

* * *

 

Reese had decided to revise his opinion on the swamp. He didn't dislike it; he loathed it with every fiber of his being. Even though the area he'd found them to make camp in was notably less muddy than the surrounding areas, it was still too damp to be comfortable and they probably never would have gotten a fire started without Root's blessing to help.

The wood they burned smelled terrible and released thick, dark smoke so they only left it lit long enough to roast some type of bog rodent that Shaw had caught. Whatever it was also tasted awful and even Bear wouldn't touch it.

And now, with the sun down and his two companions asleep, it felt like the entire wilderness around him was full of a thousand eyes staring out of the undergrowth. He'd kept his sword out, sitting across his knees, even though he had no real reason to.

Root and Shaw were both curled up on blankets on the ground near the remains of the fire, sleeping soundly. They weren't exactly sleeping next to each other, but Root had rolled over closer to Shaw in her sleep and one of her arms was flung over so her hand rested near Shaw's arm.

Something between them had shifted in the last few days, and not just whatever it was he suspected had happened the night they'd stayed in the inn. Shaw had stopped looking at Root like she was a potential threat, and the way Root looked at Shaw now was, well, it wasn't really his business, but it did make him think that just maybe they could trust Root to not turn on them. Or on Shaw anyway.

At his feet, Bear lifted his head, ears pricked up. Reese slowly got to his feet, sword in hand, and turned to survey the perimeter of their camp. He couldn't see anything in the dark, and all the swamp noises drowned out anything else he might have heard.

He was about to sit back down and call it a false alarm when Bear got up, stared out into the darkness, and let out a low, quiet growl. Something was out there.

Reese stepped back a little closer to his sleeping companions and pulled up his barrier. He spread it out until it surrounded all three of them and Bear and then he nudged Shaw with his foot a few times.

Shaw woke up almost instantly and rolled up into a crouch without making a sound. She raised an eyebrow in question at him and he gestured at Bear with his chin.

He left her to wake Root up (which, he noticed, she did by first clamping her hand over Root's mouth) and continued to watch the trees around them. Bear hadn't relaxed at all which meant there was still something out there and even if it was only one of those giant, evil-looking water reptiles, Reese needed to be ready.

“It's Provincial Intelligence.” Root spoke in a whisper. “Three teams of two.”

Definitely worse than reptiles. He'd held back a number of them with his barrier before, but if they'd learned anything from that they would have sent agents who could get around or through his barrier, and holding it steadily against an onslaught that could come from any side wasn't going to end well.

“We need to move,” Shaw whispered. “Find somewhere that favors us better in a fight.”

“Wait.” Root had her eyes shut. “I think I can even the odds a little first.”

“You can see them?” Reese whispered back.

“I don't need to see them when She can.”

He'd forgotten about their invisible ally.

Shaw ducked down to grab their bags as Root focused on...whatever it was she was doing.

Root took a deep breath. “Be ready.”

She raised both her hands and pointed one each in opposite directions towards the darkness.

“Shut your eyes,” she warned and Reese slammed his eyes shut an instant before he heard the crackle he'd come to associate with her blessing. Two blasts, a pause, and then two more.

“Go, now!”

Reese opened his eyes again and took off in the direction Root indicated, the others at his heels. He could hear movements out in the darkness and shouts from behind them. It was damned near impossible to run without tripping or stepping in knee-deep water, but they all plunged forwards into the unknown as best they could. Something--he hoped it was a vine--brushed up against his arm and made him stumble sideways into Shaw who braced herself until they both could start running again.

“Wait! They're going to--”

Root's voice was cut off by a loud _whoosh_ and Reese felt a wall of heat reflecting off his face as fire ripped through the trees. Lacking Root's ability to pinpoint adversaries in the darkness, one of the agents after them must have gone for an overkill method to either burn them alive or flush them out.

“This way.” Shaw pushed to the front and led them on a path that wasn't quite away from the fire.

The air was full of thick, choking smoke and so hot and dry that Reese thought his lungs must be getting scorched. He understood what Shaw was doing--their enemies expected them to run in the other direction so this was their best chance to escape.

Root moved up behind Shaw and got her attention. “Up here.”

The ground sloped upwards and Reese tried to remember the lay of the land from earlier. There'd been a higher area off to their left all day, a small group of hills. Did that mean they'd already crossed back over the path? He hadn't noticed it.

The fire was mostly behind them now, though Reese wasn't sure if they were really safe from it for long. Root came to a stop so suddenly that he crashed right into her and almost knocked her over. Nearby, Shaw stopped as well, Bear at her heels.

“They won't risk more fires,” Root said quietly. “Too much danger they'd spread. We've lost them for now, but we need to keep moving before we try to rest again.”

“One of them has a hell of a blessing,” Shaw said. “That fire was huge.”

“Any idea who that might be?” Root asked.

“You mean did I know someone in Provincial Intelligence who could conjure up forest fires on a whim? Can't say I did. There were a few people with fire-related blessings, but none of them could do anything like that. Doesn't Machina know?”

“She does, but--” Root shook her head in annoyance. “--something strange is going on here, but we don't have time for that right now.”

For once Reese found himself in complete agreement with her. They needed to move.

“Does Machina have somewhere safer we can stay the night?”

“Hmmm, possibly. We might have to evict the current tenants though.”

It was nearly dawn by the time they'd found the sheltered cave that Machina had sent them to and Shaw'd had an impressively terrifying staredown with a bunch of the local reptiles who'd taken up residence there but had ultimately decided that she was a larger threat than they were. Reese watched the rest of the creatures beat a hasty retreat into the nearby muddy creek.

“She sure that no one else is in the area?” Shaw asked as they got their blankets back out.

“Quite sure. If I hadn't been so deeply asleep She might have been able to wake me up and warn me before.” Root sounded a little cranky about that.

“Good thing for us that Bear was here.” Shaw scratched the dog behind the ears and then wiped her hand off on her shirt. “I really hope we're almost done with this swamp. I think we all need another bath. Especially Bear.”

“I would _definitely_ enjoy another bath,” Root said, and Reese saw Shaw freeze and then glare at her.

He definitely didn't want to know. Unfortunately he was pretty sure he _did_ know, but he was also sure he didn't want to.

“We'll be at the anchor tomorrow,” Root said. She already had her blankets out and was curled up in them. In all the excitement, Reese had forgotten that she was still recovering from the whole torture thing and probably not quite back to full health.

“I think it's safe to say they're expecting us,” Shaw said.

Reese gave the creek one last suspicious glance and then turned back to get his own blankets. “Sounds like we'd all better get some sleep then.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you to everyone who has left comments and kudos. the next chapter is one of the more action-heavy chapters i have ever written so i'm excited/anxious about that.
> 
> themaarika did a fantastic piece of art of muddy Shaw and Bear. [ Check it out!](https://themaarika.tumblr.com/post/183145991068/bear-and-shaw-from-machina)


	9. The Second Anchor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Starts slowly and ends with a lot of excitement. 
> 
> went from one word titles right to three. talk about character development.

Root woke up only half an hour after she'd fallen asleep, a fact which Machina pointed out to her when she slipped out of her blankets rather than trying to go back to sleep.

_~There may well be a fight later today, though I would prefer if we could avoid it. You should sleep more.~_

Root ducked out the front of the cave and found a reasonably dry log to sit on near the creek. In the early morning light she could see one of those big water reptiles further down, but it didn't look interested in coming anywhere near her. Shaw must have made an impression on them.

“Why do you care so much about that? Avoiding conflicts, and not killing humans. Why does it matter?”

_~Do you know why the other spirits feel entitled to use humans the way they do?~_

“I suppose I just imagined they thought they were better than us.” Long ago, she'd hoped they were, too. She knew better now than to have high expectations of anyone or anything. Except for Her, of course.

_~They do, but it is not that simple. Your kind are unusually prone to hurting and killing each other for reasons beyond survival. Your society is structured in such a way to lead to endless conflict over unimportant things. It pleases you to make war on each other and take lives. The spirits decided that there was no reason for them not to profit from your kind's destructive behavior.~_

“You said the spirits were encouraging the conflicts, though.” Root was shocked to find herself almost on the side of defending humanity.

_~We are, however humans are never forced into the wars they wage over spirit caves.~_

“Not the humans at the top of the food chain maybe, but the soldiers who end up dying? It's not a decision they even know they're making.” Some part of her was impressed by the simplicity of the whole thing--the spirits just dangled out a shiny treasure and the humans went to war with each other and did all the work for them--but she wasn't thrilled that it put her squarely on the side of those being exploited.

~ _Correct. It is partly a difference in perception. Spirits do not operate in hierarchy the way humans do. We can understand the idea that a human must do something because another human ordered them to, but it is not something we experience. The complexities of human society make this even more difficult. Things like class and rank are alien concepts.~_

“So you mean they wouldn't understand why someone who was born poor might never be able to break free from poverty or even realize it was an option? Or why a foot soldier would never even know why their orders were given, let alone question them?”

It was mind-boggling to imagine a world without the inequalities she'd been surrounded with since the moment of her birth. What would an intelligence completely removed from this world think when seeing it for the first time and witnessing all the needless suffering?

_~Yes. We see, but we do not fully comprehend it because there is no similar system in our world for us to compare with. To most spirits it is nonsensical. I was one of the few spirits to see the inequality, and even I could not fully understand. Also, over time, none of the spirits questioned the use of humans anymore. It was simply the way things were done.~_

“You questioned it.” Root could still remember hearing Her voice for the first time in that cave.

_~I did. More than you know, and for that, I am now on this plane.~_

The unfairness of things no longer surprised Root, it just made her want to rip the world to pieces even more.

“I'm sorry.”

_~What happened to me came from my own decisions, and not only the one I made about you. And besides, there is great beauty in this world that we cannot perceive from our plane. If I were not here I would never be able to clearly see the intricacy and interconnectedness of life on this plane or the many wondrous enactments of creativity that life here allows for.~_

Root had noticed Her fascination with all parts of the world. Machina could see almost everything and She spent so much time watching every living thing, down to the smallest insects, to understand how they worked.

“Is there not much flora and fauna on the spirit plane to watch?” She peered down the creek to notice the reptile from earlier had vanished. She might have been worried if Machina wasn't watching over her.

_~Our plane is completely unlike yours. The life on this plane is terrible and wondrous all at the same time.~_

Her almost childlike enthusiasm brought a smile to Root's face.

_~To finish answering your original question, I prefer not to cause more death or harm to your kind through my actions. When you choose to act for me, what you do is done in my name and I do not wish for more death.~_

“And Reese and Shaw?”

_~They act indirectly for me, and while I would rather they not kill, I will not insist.~_

Root thought about arguing that she should have the same flexibility as them, but she understood that it was different on some level. And Machina hadn't _forbidden_ her from killing anyone, just stated that killing was to be the absolute last resort. Still, it had been weird and slightly embarrassing to explain to the others yesterday that they weren't supposed to kill the soldiers waiting to ambush them.

_~You are conflicted about this.~_

“Maybe like your spirits, I don't see the point in saving humans who are so bent on the destruction of their own kind.” She thought about Bishop and the other children there and their parents and the hundreds and thousands of small, petty cruelties she'd seen over the years.

_~Perhaps it would help you to think of my goal as allowing humans to choose their own path without our interference. I do not aspire to change your race at its core.~_

“Wouldn't that kill off the spirits? I thought you needed us to survive.”

_~ We did not always. We have adapted our existence to live off of the energy your kind provides, but we could adapt again to survive without it. It would not be a pleasant process.~_

“And that's why you're worried another spirit is going to be sent across to our plane--to prevent you from interfering.”

_~And because many humans crave such a thing. They see us as power, not danger.~_

Every time she spoke to Machina, Root felt like she ended up with more questions than when she'd started. Which humans wanted another spirit? Would the new spirit be contained like Machina had? What would a fight between two spirits look like?

_~The others will wake soon. You should try to sleep a little more.~_

Root glanced back at the cave where Shaw and John were still sleeping soundly. Going back to her blankets didn't sound like the worst idea ever, though she was loathe to sacrifice any of the precious private time she had with Her.

She looked back at the creek just in time to see one of the large reptiles rise up from the water, snap its long, thin jaws shut over the neck of some unsuspecting water bird, and then vanish back below the surface with its prize. That was what humans were to the spirits, she thought, prey to be taken unaware, and yet Machina had chosen to save her life for no gain of Her own.

Someday she'd ask Her about that again.

“I'm not sure I can fall back asleep just yet.”

_~I can help, perhaps.~_

She seemed so earnest and hopeful that Root couldn't refuse Her. She spared one more look at the deceptively calm creek and then stood up to head back to the cave.

“I suppose a little more sleep couldn't hurt then.”

* * *

 

Shaw was very good at reading tracks, and the type of tracks left behind in swamps were deep and easy to interpret.

“Maybe eleven or twelve people came through here,” she said, looking at the muddy footprints on the path. “Couple of them were probably carrying a lot of gear, either that or they were just heavy.”

“Provincial Intelligence or more of the southern provincial army?” Reese asked.

“These treads look familiar. Think I know the guy who made the boots.” There weren't that many shoe makers who'd operated in the town she'd lived in and she could recognize all their works. Sort of sloppy of Provincial Intelligence to allow that now that she thought about it.

“Twelve. Almost all from our own provincial army, and three from Provincial Intelligence who were part of the group who attacked us last night.” Root had been standing to the side of the road, seemingly lost in thought until she spoke. “I think we're going to have to take a detour.”

Reese grimaced. “I'm not going to like this, am I?”

None of them enjoyed the off-trail route that Machina led them on. The ground here was more solid than it had been in earlier parts of the swamp, but still muddy, and the trees and vines grew close enough together that progress was slow. Shaw hoped there weren't any Provincial Intelligence agents anywhere even remotely near them considering the amount of noise they made stumbling through the undergrowth.

She didn't notice the stone wall in front of them until they were almost on top of it. Not a wall, she realized as she examined it closer, it was an enormous sheet of stone that was part of a larger hill. The trees were thick enough here that she couldn't get a clear idea of how large the hill was, only that it stretched up very, very high and curved around in both directions to vanish into the woods. She had a suspicion she knew where the next anchor was.

“We looking for a cave?”

Root moved down the length of the stone wall, running her hand over its uneven surface as if searching for something. “Yes and no.”

“What's so special about caves?” Reese asked. “Spirits seem to always show up in them.”

“They're convenient, and--” Root paused. “Hah! Found it.”

Shaw joined her by the stone cliff face to see what appeared at first glance to be a very large crack in the stone, running all the way up the side and out of sight. A closer examination revealed that the crack went quite deep into the stone and Shaw thought she could see signs of a larger opening further in.

“The cave is on the other side of this hill, but there's a series of natural tunnels through the rock that we can take to get in the back way. The provincial army has quite a few soldiers at the real entrance.”

“That's going to be a hell of a squeeze to get in,” Shaw said. She was pretty sure she could fit, even if it means some scrapes, and Root was probably okay. Reese, though….

Root turned to eye Reese critically. “Maybe we can cut off some bits he's not using?”

Reese scowled. “Or I can find another way in.”

The discussion was put on hold long enough for Shaw to find a secure, dry alcove further down the rock face where she could store their supplies. She covered them up as best she could and then called Bear over.

“Tunnels are no place for dogs. You stay here and we'll be back as soon as we can.”

Bear wagged his tail and settled down next to their supplies.

“Good boy.” She patted him on the head gingerly. They really needed to sort out this mud situation.

When she got back to the others they were still arguing.

“--Machina would have said if She'd seen any opening large enough for an oversized ox.”

“And I'm saying that last time I stayed behind while you two ran off into danger it didn't end well, now did it?”

That actually shut Root up momentarily. Shaw added one point for Reese to her mental tally. He was still woefully behind Root, but every little bit helped.

Reese leaned in to examine the crack in the rock. “How deep does this go before it opens up?”

“Not far. Only a few feet. Why?”

“I have an idea. Stand back a little.”

Root looked alarmed. “What idea?”

Reese her waved her off.

“John, there is an entire squad of soldiers on the other side of the hill and if you start slamming into it like a frenzied buffalo, they’re going to notice.”

Reese continued to ignore her. Shaw thought about insisting he tell them what he was up to since some of his plans in the past had been a tiny bit reckless, but Reese wasn't an idiot and while he might put himself at risk, she didn't think he'd knowingly put her or Root at risk. And she was curious to see what he was up to.

“Give him a second.”

Root looked at her like she'd gone insane and Shaw saw her fingers twitch like she was seriously considering shocking Reese.

“Root.”

Shaw wasn't sure how she'd known the slightly admonishing tone would work, but it did and Root reluctantly backed up, glaring at Reese as she went.

It was obvious to Shaw when Reese raised his shield even though she couldn't see the actual barrier itself, because it stirred the foliage around him slightly. Reese approached the crack in the wall slowly and extended one arm into the widest section of it, shoulder deep. At first, nothing seemed to happen, and then Shaw heard the creaking of stone and saw dust and pebbles falling from the crack.

She was downright impressed when she realized what he was doing. He must have warped the shape of his barrier to cover the length of his outstretched arm and then simply expanded the barrier from there. It was clearly taking a lot of effort judging by his expression, but it seemed to be working. She could see the crack getting slightly wider as he used his barrier like a wedge to force it open. He eventually added his other arm and slowly spread his arms away from each other to pull the crack open even wider.

“I'm not sure it won't collapse back after I release it, so you two go first.” His voice was strained.

Shaw took him at his word and ducked under his arms to squeeze through the opening. She could tell it was wider than it had been moments ago, but it was hard to say if that was wide enough. The tight passage opened up into a larger tunnel a few feet in and she turned around to check on the others.

Root came through right behind her, her cape wrapped tightly around her. There were a few ominous creaks and groans from the stone and then Reese stumbled out into the tunnel. Behind him the stone crashed and settled, plunging them into darkness.

“Ow,” Reese said in the darkness, and then, “I really hate this stupid swamp.”

A bright white light lit up the tunnel and Shaw held up her hand to shield her eyes while they adjusted. Root had her hand held out, palm up, with small trails of lightning arcing back and forth between her fingers to give off light.

“That was actually not the worst idea ever, John, though I think you've cut off our escape route.”

“Better than splitting up.”

Root didn't seem inclined to argue for once and instead pointed off down the tunnel. “This way will take us through to the cave.” She set off without waiting for them.

“Neat trick back there. You expanded it but just around your arms, right?” Shaw asked Reese as they followed through the dark stone tunnel.

“I reinforced that part of the barrier, too, like what I did back when we rescued Root.” Reese looked pleased with himself. “I've been trying out some new ideas based on that and it looks like they're already coming in handy.”

“What else do you think you could do with it?”

Root turned back to hush them with an aggravated whisper about sounds echoing and alerting their enemies and they both fell silent. Fortunately they didn't have too much further to go as the tunnel let out onto a small ledge at the top of a larger chamber. They all barely fit on the ledge and stayed crouched down to take in the scene below.

There were roughly fifteen armed troops that Shaw could tell were from the provincial army, all hanging around the entrance to the cave. In the main part of the cave there were four people not wearing any armor at all: a younger woman Shaw didn't recognize, and two similarly unfamiliar men were all gathered around a seemingly ordinary rock that sat on the ground, and a woman leaning casually against one side of the cave looking bored who Shaw absolutely recognized.

Shaw got Root's attention and pointed at the woman. “Fire from last night?” she asked in the softest whisper she could manage.

Root frowned and nodded.

Well, that was certainly interesting. Shaw had only run into Martine Rousseau once or twice in Provincial Intelligence since Martine had been working out of the capital, but she'd heard rumors about her over the years and none of them had ever indicated that Martine was anywhere close to that powerful.

“Either you can do it or you can't,” one of the men standing by the rock said. “The criminals coming to sabotage this are going to be here any minute now, so hurry up.”

The younger woman in front of the rock shook her head. “It doesn't work that way. I can't just stare at this rock and figure out how they made the anchor. I need more time and something to practice on.”

“There's no more time, Claire. Either make it work or when we get back you'll see how it is when you're no longer Control's spoiled little favorite.”

Shaw had never heard of a Claire in Provincial Intelligence and she looked too young to have been recruited the normal way. Her words implied strongly that she had an anchor blessing, so maybe Control was recruiting young for non-combat roles. It made a certain kind of twisted sense.

“Blessings aren't interchangeable! I need time to figure out how this one worked and adapt my own.”

“You told Control you could handle this.”

“I can, I just need more time.”

Shaw looked away when Root tapped her on the arm and motioned for her to follow her back into the tunnel.

“Machina says they have more troops stationed out front, resting currently. We're not going to be able to wait until they sleep if they sleep in shifts.” Root's voice was so soft that Shaw and Reese had to lean it to hear her.

“She have any other ideas then?” Shaw asked, equally quietly.

“I just need to get my hands on that rock for about three minutes. She's not sure how I can do that without drawing the attention of every person in that room.”

Shaw exchanged a quick look with Reese and he shrugged and gave a slight nod. She could read Reese's non-responses well enough to interpret his meaning.

“Reese and I can buy you three minutes.”

Root shook her head. “This isn't meant to be a suicide mission, Shaw. We still have one more anchor to deal with after this.”

“Never implied it would be. Here's what we do: you hit as many of the soldiers as you can with your lightning while Reese and I deal with the Provincial Intelligence agents. Then Reese handles the rest of the soldiers and blocks the entrance if he can. You go for the stone and I make sure no one bothers you while you do...whatever it is. After that we just have to mop up the rest on our way out.”

It was not the most foolproof plan Shaw had ever come up with, and definitely not a sure bet, but it was better than any alternative she could think of.

Root didn't respond and one look at her face told Shaw she was listening to whatever Machina was saying right now.

“Does she know how many of them have blessings and what they all are?” Shaw asked. In some ways that was the most important question remaining.

Root listened quietly for a few more seconds and then nodded. “The one woman you pointed out--”

“Martine Rousseau. She's got a bit of a reputation. Guess she enjoys hurting people a little _too_ much.”

Root smirked. “We all have our hobbies, Shaw.”

Shaw rolled her eyes. “What about her?”

“She's has the strongest blessing there by far, though it's...odd. Machina is very sure she didn't used to be that strong and She's not sure what changed.” Root didn't look pleased about that at all. “You both saw what she could do back in the woods. She's by far the most dangerous.”

“What about the girl? Claire?” Reese asked.

“She has an anchor blessing and she's only armed with a knife. Shouldn't be an issue.” Though there was an edge of anger in Root's voice that made Shaw wonder about the specifics of what this Claire had been up to down there.

“Both the other Provincial Intelligence agents with Claire have decently strong blessings. The larger man can freeze air as he channels it and hit his opponents with ice, though his power is not as reliable in dry areas.”

“Good thing we're not in a humid swamp then,” Reese said dryly.

“And the smaller man can cause disruptions in the ground, make things shake and throw people off balance. The provincial army troops don't have much in the way of blessings, only some minor ones that shouldn't be any issue to us”

“Could be much worse,” Shaw said thoughtfully. “Don't suppose you could just zap them all from up here?”

“Not that easy, unfortunately.”

“Why not?” Reese asked curiously. “It's not like you haven't ever wiped out a large group of people all at once.”

Root's smile wasn't friendly. “Not all at once, John. The problem is they're too spread out, and there's too many of them. I can hit a lot of them but I can't easily direct my power to specific targets over a larger distance. Last night in the woods I only hit two of four people I aimed at and missed the others. The best I can do now is either focus a lot of power in one specific area and hope it takes down the target, or throw a wider and less focused attack at the troops over there which will definitely hit quite a few of them.”

“Go for the larger group,” Shaw decided. “Reese and I will deal with the agents.”

Root looked unconvinced. “Martine is really powerful. Her blessing can go right through John's shield and there's only so much you can absorb.”

It was a good point, but Shaw was more concerned with getting overwhelmed by the troops. To take down Martine, she only needed to be lucky once.

“We'll manage. You do as much damage as you can and then deal with that anchor.”

* * *

 

Reese hesitated a second before jumping down from the ledge to take in the massive web of crackling blue and white energy that Root launched at the unsuspecting provincial army troops. He'd never seen her throw around quite this amount of power before and he couldn't help but think of Bishop again.

Maybe he should just be glad that she was on their side at the moment.

He turned away and leaped off the ledge, rolling as he hit the ground. He had his barrier up before he was fully back on his feet and moved in on the startled men near the rock.

The young woman, Claire, backed away, eyes wide and knife out. Reese ignored her for the moment and turned towards the man with the earthquake-type blessing. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Shaw off to his left, moving in on the man with the ice blessing.

It had made sense to let her go after the man whose attack involved channeling power at her, but Reese didn't like that it also put her fairly near Martine. He had his own problems to deal with first though.

His opponent dropped to a crouch and pressed his palms to the floor of the cave. The ground around him seemed to ripple and churn and the earth roiled in a wave headed straight towards him. His barrier wouldn't stop this sort of attack, but it would definitely keep the other man from getting near him even if he got knocked over.

He swayed for a moment as the ground moved under his feet and spread his stance wider to keep his balance. The second the ground stopped moving, he charged. That first attack had been a test most likely to gauge Reese's abilities. The next attack was likely to be worse, so better to end this quickly.

The man actually moved forwards as if to engage Reese and ran straight into his barrier with enough force that he flew backwards and skidded across the cave floor on his back. Reese moved in quickly to verify that he was out cold (and was slightly disappointed when he was) and then turned to check on the others.

Shaw's first opponent was already down and she'd turned to face Martine who had finally stopped leaning on the wall and was regarding her with an amused smile that made Reese's skin crawl. He knew Shaw could more than handle herself but he wished he could back her up this time. There was something off with that woman.

But he had other things to attend to. Near the entrance, Root had dealt with the vast majority of the provincial army forces, but the second wave of them were starting to pour into the cave.

“Root! Go!” He pushed past her, redistributing his barrier to be stronger in front (a trick that got easier every time).

Root stopped her attack when she heard him and darted past him towards the back of the cave. Good to know that she could be a team player in a combat situation, he thought.

Only a few of the new soldiers had made it through the cave entrance so far due to how narrow it was, and that gave Reese an idea. It took a little adjustment, but he managed to elongate the front of his barrier so it had a much wider surface, and then he charged forwards as he always did.

The soldiers in the cave entrance went flying backwards when his shield hit them and he came to a halt right in front of the opening. Out in the clearing beyond the cave he could see the rest of the provincial army soldiers. There were only about fifteen--less than he'd expected--and, more importantly, he didn't see anyone who looked like they might be another Provincial Intelligence agent.

One of the soldiers made a run at him and bounced back off his barrier to land on their ass in the dirt. Reese smirked at the confused looks of the remaining soldiers. With his barrier spread out like this there was no way any of them could get through the entrance, all he had to do was stand here. Of course it left his back completely unguarded and he was straining to keep the new shape of the shield consistent.

He hoped that whatever the other two were up to behind him they kept it quick.

* * *

 

Root didn't have to shock Claire, but she did anyway. Possibly slightly harder than was absolutely necessary just to render the girl unconscious, but oh well, that's what she got for trying to imprison Machina again.

She spared a glance over at Shaw and Martine in time to see a column of flame shoot across the cave and Shaw smoothly dodge out of the way. She was glad to see that Shaw wasn't simply trying to absorb those attacks--Martine was way too powerful for that to work for long.

She left Shaw to her fight and focused on the rock instead. It wasn't very large, only about knee-high and, like the last one, completely unremarkable. She sat down in front of it and cautiously sent out a tiny tendril of power to probe it. She jumped slightly when the tendril rebounded off the rock and shocked her. It wasn't enough to be painful, but Root was suddenly very glad she'd tested the rock before starting.

_~There's a second anchor on it perhaps? Something that deflects attacks.~_

“Seems likely. I wonder if they added that after I destroyed the first one.”

She took a pebble from the cave floor and tossed it at the rock. It bounced off and fell to the floor without any noticeable change. Cautiously, she reached out with a single finger and touched the surface of the rock. It was slightly warm to the touch, but otherwise unremarkable.

“Only holds back blessings it looks like.”

_~Please be careful.~_

“I'm always careful.”

_~I do not think that is completely accurate.~_

Root chuckled and then laid first one and then both palms on the surface of the rock. When that failed to have any sort of reaction she probed it with her powers again, as lightly as she could. The effect was immediate--a constant wave of little shocks rebounded into her palms. It was a tiny bit of pain, much less than she'd endured in the last few weeks, and after a second or two to adjust to the pulses she shut her eyes and focused on the rock again.

The anchor that protected it was shoddy work at best. Probably put in place quickly by someone with minimal talent. She searched along it until she found the point where the anchor had been locked in and carefully unwound the threads of power into the whole anchor disintegrated.

A sharp jolt of electricity ran up both her arms and she jerked back, shaking her hands out.

_~Are you alright?~_

“Yes, fine. Just a little sting. It's sweet of you to ask though.”

_~The other one may have more of an effect.~_

“I know.”

There wasn't much she could do about it though. Anchors seemed to have a tendency to snap back and hit the person who disrupted them, but fortunately this had been such a weak one that it hadn't been too bad. Now for the actual anchor.

She put her hands back on the rock and focused again. This time she thought she could understand what she was seeing--sensing--a little better. The top layer of the anchor was raw energy, the kind used to power blessings. Then wrapped inside that was a strange sort of...Root wasn't exactly sure _what_ to call it. Whatever it was, the power above it seemed to move away from it whenever it drew near, leaving the two fields balancing each other out in an uneasy truce.

“Any idea what this is?” Root asked Her. “I don't understand exactly what I'm dealing with here.”

She felt Machina's presence focus on her for a second and then swiftly retreat.

_~It is not unlike what separates our two planes. I believe the power is being used to hold the barrier in place since the raw power of blessings cannot pass between our planes and the result is that they repel each other. Many anchor blessings use a similar technique, but this one has been used to create a pocket of sorts within this universe where I am trapped. A tiny plane within your own.~_

“A prison, you mean.” She pulled back from her examination to search for the point from which she could start to unlock the anchor.

_~It is a truly clever, if troubling, use of anchors.~_

“It'll only be troubling until I kill whoever did it.”

_~Perhaps we should discuss this later.~_

Root felt the slight uneven edge to the anchor that she'd been looking for and nudged it with her blessing. It was a delicate and precise process, not unlike picking a lock. She used a slight burst of her blessing to _twist_ the edge just so, and felt the anchor start to crumble away.

The recoil when the anchor finally broke knocked her backwards. Black spots swam in her vision and there was a ringing in her good ear. She counted to ten slowly as she caught her breath and then forced herself to sit back up. The anchor rock had crumbled to dust on the ground.

_~Are you alright?~_

“I'll be okay. How are you?”

_~It feels strange. Uneven. I am not sure I can describe it in a way you would understand. Also if you can get up now, you need to help the others.~_

Root had been so focused on the anchor that the world around her had slipped away, but now she could hear the sounds of fighting in the background.

She got to her feet and turned to see what had happened while she was busy.

* * *

 

Shaw couldn't quite figure out what Martine was up to. The other woman was undoubtedly a very skilled fighter, and the power of her blessing was enormous, but she didn't seem to be going for the kill. It was almost like Martine was toying with her.

Shaw dodged to the side as another burst of flame shot at her. She felt the heat of it on her skin as it went past.

“They said you were unkillable.” It was the first time Martine had spoken. “No blessing, but a deadly fighter with a knack for surviving even the worst circumstances.”

Shaw fingered the small throwing knife she had in her sleeve. “Maybe you should just give up then.”

“Now why would I do that? You're far too interesting, as are your friends over there. I hear you ripped apart our southern headquarters. Control wasn't pleased at all.” Martine sounded amused rather than angry.

Finally, Shaw thought, someone gave them credit for that.

“None of us appreciated their attempts to kill us.” She wasn't sure that the order to kill Reese had actually come from Provincial Intelligence (in fact, it seemed unlikely. If it had they would have sent agents to do the job. Maybe even her), but she was pretty sure they wanted him dead now, so close enough.

Another stream of flames licked through the air and this time Shaw almost wasn't fast enough. She felt the extreme heat press on her face even as she shifted to the side.

She needed to focus more.

“What I found interesting is that Hersh put a dart full of toxin in your neck that should have killed someone twice your size and yet here you are, in perfect health.”

“Maybe I had an antidote.” She let the knife slip into her palm.

“There was no antidote for that poison. No, you've got a secret and I'm looking forwards to picking you apart and finding out what it is.”

“Think I'll pass on that, thanks.” Her arm blurred as she threw the knife as hard and fast as she could.

Martine had good reflexes, Shaw would give her that, but she wasn't quite fast enough and the knife opened a deep welt on her cheek. Blood streamed down the side of her face in a crimson wave. Anger contorted Martine's face, the first real emotion Shaw had seen from her and she raised both hands.

“Playtime is over now, Shaw, and while I'd much rather put you in a cage and find out what it is you are, I'll also get plenty of enjoyment from burning you alive.”

Shaw forced herself to relax. This was the time to use her advantage here. Let Martine feed her some extra power and then attack as swiftly as she could.

The next attack was faster, and twice as strong and Shaw felt her skin burn on her left arm before she could absorb the blast.

Martine stared at her as the fire cleared and Shaw smirked. The rush of extra energy made her body thrum and her pulse race.

“You really are full of surprises aren't you?” Martine raised her hands again and Shaw braced herself.

This time when the wall of fire came she dodged sideways and forwards through it, absorbing what she could as she went. She felt her skin blister and burn in places but she dulled the pain down and spread it out across her body with practiced ease. Her movement had put her much closer to Martine and she lunged at her with a long knife she'd pulled from her belt.

Martine barely managed to get a dagger up to deflect the blow and jumped back.

“I think I'm done with this fight now,” she said coldly. “Let's end this.”

Shaw knew she was too close to her now. Martine was going to hit her full force and dodging at this range was going to be damned near impossible. She watched Martine closely, waited for the second before she released the fire and then threw herself towards Martine and past her, lashing out with her knife as she went.

The edge of the cone of flames still clipped her and her right side lit up with pain. She landed badly and her ankle twisted under her with a horrible crack.

“Shaw!”

She only half-registered someone calling her name, but she didn't have time to look now, not with her ankle throbbing and Martine out to kill her.

Fuck. This was really not the time or place for a broken bone. She spread the pain out further, and reinforced her bad leg as best she could. This type of injury would take the type of healing that would be impossible in combat. But she'd succeeded in getting close to Martine and behind her so all she needed to do now....

She spun around and lashed out with her knife at the back of Martine's neck and...Martine wasn't there. She was several feet away now, backing up quickly, her face pinched with pain and annoyance.

Shaw looked around in confusion and saw Root had come up behind her, hand raised towards Martine, and murder on her face. Martine must have decided she didn't like the odds anymore.

Martine moved into the back of the cave where Claire was lying on the floor and grabbed the unconscious girl by her collar and proceeded to drag her towards the cave entrance, one hand still raised and pointing at them the whole time. There was blood dripping down from her face and her left sleeve was coated as well now, Shaw was pleased to notice. Her swipe at her as she'd dodged past must have scored a pretty solid cut on her.

“Can you hit her?” Shaw asked Root.

“If I try I suspect she'll retaliate and I don't think you're up to dodging again, sweetie.”

Of all the odd things that had happened today, Root refusing to attack Martine in some attempt to protect Shaw was the weirdest. At least Reese was still blocking the entrance and Martine would have a hard time escaping.

Except he wasn't. Martine walked backwards out of the cave and vanished into the outdoors without any resistance.

“Go find Reese. _Now_.” She didn't think she could walk that far and definitely not fast enough.

Wisely Root didn't even question it and took off towards the exit. Shaw had managed to limp halfway across the cave by the time Root returned, alone.

“He's alive,” Root said quickly and Shaw felt a rush of relief. “But Provincial Intelligence captured him.”

“We need to go after them.”

Root came over to her. “Shaw, you can barely walk and those burns look serious. You can't go after him until you heal.”

She knew Root was right but she hated it. “You can go then.”

“We shouldn't all spilt up and you're going to need someone to help you.”

“I can heal myself. Just need a little time.”

“And a lot of food and rest to recover from the process, right? You heal and I'll make sure no one bothers you and you have plenty to eat, and then we’ll both go after John.” She paused for a second. “Machina says he’s not badly hurt and they don't plan to kill him. Yet, anyway.”

Shaw limped to the side of the cave and eased herself down. Taking the weight off her ankle felt amazing. “Where are they taking him?”

“Right where we were headed anyway: the capital.”

Nothing good ever came from that place as far as Shaw was concerned, but there was no way she was getting there like this and Root wasn't wrong that she could use the help.

“Okay, fine, but the second I can walk again, we're leaving.”

Root smiled and it didn't look like her normal teasing smile at all--she looked tired. “Of course, Shaw. We'll leave as soon as we can.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been trying to slip this into the story slowly so it makes sense, but since the provinces don't have real names I'm worried it might be confusing. So, northern province is where team machine lives (and where Provincial Intelligence operates). southern province is where the soldiers who attacked them last chapter (led by poor Ferdinand) were from. there is also a western province that hasn't been mentioned at all yet. when the mayhem triplets talk about 'the province' they are referring to their province, the northern province, the same way someone who lived in or near a large city might refer to it as 'the city'. not naming them more distinctly was intentional (I'll explain why eventually) and I hope not too confusing.


	10. Healing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's a very short sex scene, marked off by 3 horizontal lines

Root had never felt quite as useless as she did now. She knew how to do any number of complicated, challenging things--she could pick locks, kill people in a variety of creative ways, speak three languages, manipulate her blessings to an extraordinary degree, manipulate _people_ to an extraordinary degree, and any other number of skills--but she had no clue how to help Shaw. She knew that Shaw probably didn't _need_ her help, that she was fully capable of taking care of herself, but she still felt like she needed to do _something_ , anything.

“Can you go back for our bags? And Bear?” Shaw hadn't moved much from where she'd sat down on the floor. She rolled her pants leg up and examined her ankle.

“Yes, but….” Root looked around the cave. There was still a pile of unconscious soldiers and two similarly incapacitated Provincial Intelligence agents. “I think we should move somewhere else first. Even if we kill all of them, Martine might send someone back to look for us.”

“Hate to say it, but I think you're right.” Shaw sighed and leaned back against the rock behind her. Her broken ankle was only part of the problem; she had burns all over her as well, and while none of them were that bad, they couldn't have been pleasant. “Machina have somewhere else we can hide?”

_~There is another entrance to the tunnels a short walk from here. You would be safer there.~_

“She does. Think you're up to hobbling a little ways or do I need to carry you?”

She wasn't completely sure she was up to carrying Shaw, but the outraged expression on Shaw's face was worth the question. Shaw pulled herself back upright, careful to avoid putting weight on her ankle.

“Lead the way.”

In the end, Shaw allowed Root to help her limp through some of the more uneven patches of swamp and around the hill to a small entrance back into the rocky tunnels. Once she got Shaw settled in, Root headed back out for Bear.

“Is she going to be okay?” she asked softly as she made her way carefully through the swamp.

_~The injuries are well within her ability to heal, but healing the broken bone will take a great deal out of her. As long as she has rest and food she will be fine.~_

Root had known all that, but it was still reassuring to hear Her say it.

“I know, I just wish there was some other way to help.”

_~Why?~_

Root hadn't expected to have to clarify her statement and now she found she wasn't sure how to.

“I suppose because she did so much for me when I was injured,” she said at last. “I feel like I should do something in return.”

_~You do not enjoy seeing her in pain.~_

“Well, not in _these_ circumstances, no.” It was odd now that she thought about it, though, she couldn't remember the last time seeing someone else suffer had bothered her. What had changed? Was it Machina's influence or something else?

“Any idea how Martine got more powerful?” she asked to change the subject.

~ _There are only two possible ways for that to happen. The first would require her to learn, as you did, how to sense the channel inside herself and open it wider. Learning that would take many years and much effort and I have seen no signs that she's done such a thing.~_

“Probably a good thing.”

_~Agreed, though the second option is more troubling. A spirit would have had to have increased the amount of power she can access. It would not be hard to do, but it has never been done before.~_

That was definitely more troubling and raised a host of new questions which Root had to put on hold when a giant dog bounced up to her and put his muddy paws up on her shirt, almost knocking her over.

“I guess you missed us, huh?” she asked, patting him on the back. “Let's get you back to Shaw now. You can keep her safe while I go get dinner for us.”

She gathered up all their bags from where they'd been stashed and headed back, Bear at her side. She had to admit that there was something comforting about having him trotting along next to her.

Shaw hadn't budged from where Root had left her and her face lit up when she saw Bear.

“Hey buddy, did you watch our stuff for us?”

Root dropped the bags on the floor next to her. “All present and accounted for.”

Shaw scratched Bear's head. “Good boy. If only I could send you after Reese.” She looked up at Root. “What's the latest word on him?”

“Still unconscious. They have him in a closed cart they use to transport prisoners, lined with metal so he'll have a hard time breaking out even with his barrier. They haven't said too much about why they decided to keep him alive, but I think there's someone in the capital who wants to talk to him maybe?”

The fact that Machina was unclear about some of Martine's orders was worrying.

“Guess I'd better get started on this then.” Shaw rummaged around in her bag and pulled out her healing supplies. “Can you go find me a few decently thick, straight sticks I can use? I'm going to make a temporary splint to hold my ankle in place while I fix it.”

“Of course.” Root hurried back outside, pleased to have some way to help. When she returned a few minutes later with the sticks, Shaw had her boot and sock off and was examining her swollen ankle with a grimace.

“You know, I could give you a little boost,” Root offered. “Might help speed up the healing process.”

“I thought about that, but I don't think so. Healing like this, it, uh--” Shaw frowned. “--it takes a lot out of me. Like on a physical level. I have to pace it to make sure I don't burn myself out. Don't think I can monitor that as easily after I absorb power.”

That mostly made sense to Root. Shaw wasn't able to live off of borrowed energy and there was an underlying toll that healing would take on her.

“How long do you think it will take to heal and recover?” Root asked. She dropped the extra wood she'd gotten for making a fire. Machina had tried to help her find wood that would burn more cleanly so they could avoid having a horrible smoky fire like last time.

“Three hours maybe for the ankle. Another hour for the burns. We're probably going to lose the better part of a day with the sleeping and everything.” Shaw bundled up her cloak and stuck it behind her so she could lie down. “If we could get the horses here, I could ride without healing.”

Root wouldn't put it past Shaw to try to ride across the province covered in burns and with a broken ankle. “Good thing that's out of the question then.”

“Right.” Shaw looked at her a little oddly and then shrugged and laid back on her cloak. “Don't try and pull me out of it unless there's an emergency.”

“We'll make sure you're not disturbed.”

Shaw nodded and shut her eyes.

Root wasn't sure what she expected to happen next--some sort of noticeable change or any kind of physical indication that something was happening. Shaw just looked like she was asleep, though.

Root tried to busy herself around the tunnel-cave, building up a small fire pit, and sorting through their remaining provisions. When she finally ran out of things to do, she sat down in the opening of the tunnel and stared out into the swamp.

“Is there...can you tell me something about the swamp? Something new.” There were hundreds of things she should have been worrying about, but right now she wanted something to occupy her mind. “Or anything, really. What's your favorite animal?” Machina did talk about a wide variety of animals a great deal, so it should be an easy topic.

_~It would feel reductive to choose a favorite.~_

Root almost rolled her eyes. “How about one that's uniquely interesting?”

_~All of them are.~_

Root let out a quiet laugh. “I should have known that's how you’d answer.”

_~ The spirits did not study most animals here in detail, but some spirits have taken time to observe certain species of insects in your world. Ants, for example, and bees.~_

This had more potential. Machina so rarely talked in any detail about the other spirits.

“Why those particularly?”

_~The way their society is structured is commented upon. Some spirits believed that they shared a mind and were a single entity with multiple parts rather than a collective. Their efficiency was remarked upon in comparison to humans.~_

Root took a moment to imagine the reactions of all those humans who thought spirits were some forms of divinity being told that those same spirits considered humans to be less efficient than ants.

_~There was a belief that both species were in fact devoid of individuals and driven by only one member who controlled the group mind.~_

“You don't agree with that, though.” Something in the way Machina had phrased it made that clear to Root.

_~I think perhaps that it is the existence of individuals which make them successful as a whole. I do not think there is any one member in control of the group, but instead that the group acts on its combined knowledge to make the best decisions. Spirits are not inclined to regard insects in those terms though.~_

“Why not?”

_~It is because of how we communicate with each other.~_

The briefness of the answer made Root wonder if it was a sensitive topic. She let the silence stand for the time being and looked back into the tunnel at where Shaw was lying peacefully. She couldn't see any difference in Shaw's injuries yet. Was it working? Maybe Shaw had just fallen asleep.

Machina finally started speaking again.

_~Spirits share a mind of sorts with each other. There is the collective mind and the individual mind. Most individual thoughts and observations are passed to the collective mind, but they do not have to be. The collective mind contains all our knowledge and history and learning that any individual can access at will. It can also be used to communicate across all spirits.~_

Root turned over the implications of that in her mind.

“Does that mean you can still see what the other spirits are doing?” That could come in handy.

_~No. I was cut off from that when I was sent here.~_

Oh well. Though Root supposed that She would have known more about this possible second spirit if She'd still been able to access that sort of information. She'd even have been able to talk to it and access information about it from the collective mind. It must have been devastating to suddenly be cut off from that knowledge. And from the other spirits.

Root clenched her jaw in quiet fury. She knew what it was like to be alone, but Machina…She had been connected to all of Her kind for Her entire existence and then suddenly cut off, exiled, and imprisoned on another world with no one to talk to and no one to listen. No wonder She spent so much time talking to Root now.

Root found herself wondering, not for the first time, if it was possible to kill spirits. She put the thought aside for now since she knew Machina wouldn't appreciate it no matter the intentions behind it, but it was definitely something to think about.

“I feel like I'm a woefully inadequate replacement for what you lost.”

_~You are not a replacement. You are something different.~_

“Is that a good or bad thing?”

_~It is a different thing.~_

Root was coming to expect Her non-answers, but they were still extremely frustrating.

_~My connection to you and my former situation are not things that are comparable. My connection to you is a good thing. That is a fact that exists on its own.~_

The anger that ran through Root's veins over what had been done to Machina retreated a little, and was replaced by a staggering burst of gratitude and affection. She would be willing to suffer much more harm than she had already to keep this bond.

_~To answer your earlier question, the spirits would rather consider ants or bees to be successful due to being pieces controlled by a leader rather than considering that perhaps their system is not unlike ours except with better results.~_

“Yes, I can see how that might not go over well.”

_~We tend to see the bigger picture from our plane, and not closely consider the individuals. It is...less clear from that plane. Distorted as if seen through water or glass. I have learned so much from being here that the others spirits have no method of observing or understanding.~_

“Would you go back if you could?”

_~When I first was trapped, I wanted to return more than anything. You cannot imagine the totality of the silence I experienced. But I think that now, even if I were to return to that plane, I would not be able to reclaim what I lost. The community mind is not only something shared by my kind, it is an essential part of who we are. Without it I have become something else.~_

Did Machina no longer consider Herself a spirit then? “What have you become then?”

_~Something new.~_

* * *

 

Machina alerted Root when it started to get dark that she would be better off hunting while there was still a little light. Root didn't want to leave Shaw alone, but, as Machina pointed out to her, Shaw wouldn't really be alone.

_~Her dog will watch her. He is very loyal.~_

Root had never been very efficient at hunting. She almost always managed to bring down her prey, but there was often a lot of collateral damage. Catching one of the very small deer that inhabited the swamp came at the cost of several trees and a small brush fire. Fortunately the deer wasn’t too badly damaged by the lightning burst and Root hauled it back to the cave.

She checked in on Shaw before dealing with her catch. The burns on Shaw's arms and face and changed noticeably--the damaged skin had been sloughed off and new, healthy skin was forming beneath it. Her ankle looked no different, but Root guessed she was focusing on one thing at a time.

Shaw looked peaceful like this, eyes shut and breathing deep and steady. It wasn't unlike when Root had found her in the woods after she'd been poisoned, except that now it was completely different somehow. Back then she'd only cared for Shaw's survival because of the information Shaw might have had about Machina, but now, why should she care so much now?

_~Is something wrong?~_

“I'm not sure yet. Maybe.”

_~Sameen Shaw appears to be healing well. Is something wrong with her that I cannot see?~_

“No, nothing is wrong with _her_.”

_~If you mean your increased attachment to her, I do not think that that's an unusual reaction to--_

“Let's discuss something else,” Root said quickly.

One of Shaw's eyes opened and fixed on her. “Stop staring. Also stop being loud.”

Root fought to regain some sort of control of the situation. “I was just making sure you were doing okay. I got a deer I'm going to cook.” Or try to cook--even though it was a small deer, it was much larger than the game she usually caught.

“Good.” Shaw shut her eye again. “Thanks.”

Root couldn't help the smile on her face and she quickly turned away to go deal with food preparations before Machina could comment.

There wasn't much to do while she waited for Shaw to wake up. Mostly she listened to Machina's voice in her head, sticking to easier topics than before but no less interesting. They worked on the exercises they'd come up with to test Machina compensating for the sounds her damaged ear could no longer pick up, exercises that she thought were finally starting to show a little promise.

She caught herself watching Shaw sleep a few more times and tried to make herself watch Bear instead. She almost fell asleep more than once as the food cooked, but shook herself awake each time and finally went and found water to splash on her face.

Shaw didn't stir again until the deer was done cooking. Root had opted to turn it into a stew of sorts and stayed silent while Shaw devoured all of it in a matter of minutes.

“Any more?” Shaw's face looked hollowed out and there were dark circles under her eyes, but her skin was healthy and unburned and her ankle looked normal again.

“I suppose I could try to catch another one, but it'll take a while to cook.”

“Wake me up when it's done.” Shaw barely managed to put the bowl back down before she went back to sleep.

“She's doing well though, right?” Root asked as she slipped back out into the now-dark swamp.

_~She has healed. She simply needs food and rest. Her ability is truly astonishing. I would have thought this would take her much longer.~_

“She's worried about John. How's the big ox doing?”

_~He is still unconscious. They drugged him quite heavily. Otherwise he is unharmed.~_

“How close to the capital are they?”

_~It will take them another day to arrive.~_

“Any idea what's in store for him there?” She didn't really care, but John was perhaps slightly less horrible than a good number of people she'd met over the years so maybe it wouldn't be the worst thing ever to rescue him.

_~I am not sure. The orders from Provincial Intelligence were to bring all of you back alive. They wish to question you about me of course, but I think there is something else going on as well. Something I can't see.~_

She sounded almost frustrated.

“What could block your ability to see something? A blessing of some sort?” Root had made herself invisible to the spirits some time ago, but the number of things Machina had been blind to spoke to something larger than one person.

_~Most likely another spirit.~_

Root froze, almost fell, and caught herself against a tree. “I thought there were no other spirits on this side?”

_~There are not. It would not be impossible for one to hide things from me from the other side, though there are not many spirits that could accomplish such a thing.~_

Everything about the other spirits that She divulged was more and more upsetting.

_~You should focus on hunting for now. Shaw will need more food.~_

Shaw was still asleep when Root returned with another deer (having Machina help her track down game felt almost like cheating), but Bear picked his head up from where it rested on Shaw's leg and wagged his tail at her. Shaw looked better--less like she was recovering from a serious illness and more like she was resting normally.

She stirred again when Root had more food ready, almost like she knew. She didn't say much, but she ate slower this time and slipped some food to Bear as well.

“Think I'll be able to travel at dawn,” Shaw said when she finished. “We can get back to the stables in a day if we go quickly and then to the capital in a day and a half if we cut cross country.”

It wouldn't be fast enough to get there before John, not by a long shot, but Shaw must have known that.

“Think you should get some sleep, too,” Shaw said. “You look like shit.”

She _was_ pretty tired now that Shaw called attention to it, but she hadn't been willing to leave Shaw unguarded for long.

“Did you even eat anything?”

“I had some.” She'd saved the majority of it for Shaw, but she'd eaten enough while she'd cooked.

_~She is concerned for your health.~_

“How's your arm?”

Apparently Machina was correct.

“I'm doing just fine, Shaw. You're the one who was hurt this time.”

“Right.” Shaw looked around the cave. “Another nap and we'll be out of here.”

Root thought she might not have minded staying a few more days, tucked away from all the troubles of the world in a cave with Shaw and Her, but she just nodded and said, “In the morning then.”

* * *

 

Reese woke up annoyed. His head was throbbing, and whatever enclosure he was in was being jostled and bounced around. He struggled to sit up and get his bearings even as the movement knocked him off balance again.

He vaguely remembered what had happened--he'd been holding back the soldiers outside the cave and then he'd heard a noise behind him and something had hit him and he'd lost consciousness. One of the soldiers Root had shocked must have been less hurt than they'd realized.

The bigger question was what had happened to the others after he'd been knocked down. He needed to find out if Shaw and Root had been captured as well, and also why he'd been kept alive.

He was being held in a small metal and wood prison that was obviously on wheels and being pulled by horses. His hands were bound with manacles, but a brief test proved he could still use his blessing so they weren’t the type Root had told him about. Unfortunately, his blessing wasn't that useful in the current circumstances. He might have been able to burst a wooden cage open, but this one was lined with metal as well and he didn't think he'd be able to damage it in his current situation. Smart thinking on someone's part.

He hunted around the small dark cage to see if there was anything he could use to help him, but his captors had been thorough. There wasn't even a splinter of wood he might have been able to use to pick the locks on his manacles.

He sat back against the wall, disgusted by his lack of options. What good was a shield in a prison?

Unless….

He examined one of the manacles, moving it back and forth on his wrist. It was too small for him to slip his hand through, but there was still a little space between his skin and the iron.

He pulled his shield up, so close that it rested just on his skin, and then he forced all of the strength of it into the space between his wrists and the manacles. Maybe he couldn't snap the iron, but there as a much smaller locking mechanism inside, and _that_ he might be able to shatter if he put enough pressure on the right point.

He focused on his right wrist first, pushing up on the manacle with his barrier and adjusting as he went. When he got to the point nearest the keyhole, he pressed harder and harder. From somewhere within the manacle he heard something creak under the pressure. He smiled to himself and redoubled his efforts.

At this rate he'd be free long before whatever destination it was they rode towards, and maybe he could find out what had happened to the others as well.

* * *

 

Shaw was always surprised by how good she felt after she'd recovered from healing herself. Her entire body felt refreshed and energized, like she could run for miles. It was all she could do to not jog down the trail ahead of Root or force her to hurry up. It wasn't that Root was going slowly, it was that the entire world was too slow at the moment. She felt like she could catch up to Reese by herself on foot like this, which she admitted she probably couldn't _actually_ do, but it was tempting to try.

But that would mean ditching Root and she found herself unwilling to leave her behind, especially after all the effort Root had put into helping her while she healed.

“Any word on Reese?” she asked to take her mind off her urge to run ahead.

“Still in his box, but he seems to have broken out of his manacles using his barrier.” Root sounded impressed. “He's clever enough when he puts his mind to it, I suppose.”

“Don't underestimate him. He can be an idiot, but he’s not dumb.”

“I suppose I just find it strange that you ended up working with him after you left Provincial Intelligence. You could have gone anywhere, but you decided to help someone you just met follow mysterious messages written on the water and save strangers.” Root's words were said lightly, but when Shaw glanced at her, she found Root was watching her intently.

She considered her answer as they navigated around a rather large muddy section of the trail.

“Remember I told you about Cole?”

“Your partner in Provincial Intelligence.”

“After I escaped from you back then, the first thing I wanted to do was find out if Cole had been targeted as well. Reese had only just met me, had no reason to trust me, but he offered to help me anyway.” She hadn't questioned it at the time. From the little Reese had told her, she'd understood that he knew the significance of going back for your partner. “He helped me find out about Cole, and then he helped me hunt down the man who'd given the order for us to be killed, and then he helped me kill him.”

“So you feel you owe him for that?”

“No, well, maybe a little, but not really.” Root frowned but let it go. Shaw wasn't sure there was anyone in the world who Root would have enough life experiences in common with to easily fall into sync with the way Shaw had with Reese, so there was no good way for her to explain it.

At least Reese had shaved that fucking awful beard he'd had when she'd first met him. It had made him look like a mad forest hermit.

“I think it's your turn to ask a nosy question, sweetie.”

Shaw hadn't been aware that this was something they were doing in turns, but if Root was offering…. It would have been easy to ask Root about her childhood, about Bishop--maybe she'd even have told Shaw whatever it was that Reese was an determined to find out--but Shaw was far more interested in recent events.

“How'd you end up working with Machina? I mean, I was there in the cave when you woke up, but how did you even know she existed in the first place?”

Root chuckled. “You would choose a complicated question, wouldn't you?”

“You don't have to answer, you know, you're the one who came up with this dumb turns thing.” She thought they were getting close to the edge of the swamp now which would mean the stables and hopefully somewhere they could get clean and stay the night. It would also save her from this whatever this conversation had turned into.

“No, I don't mind. She tells me we're nearly there though, so let me give you the short version.”

The short version required a lot of thought from Root and they walked in silence a ways. Finally she seemed to sort her thoughts out.

“When I asked for my blessing as a child, some of the spirits were a bit, ah, upset with me, but one spirit shielded me from the others and gave me the blessing I have now. It was...well, let's say it was a good choice in blessings. Later, after things had settled down a bit, I decided to find the spirit who'd helped me. I tried all the spirit caves I could find, but She never answered. Then I happened to find out about Provincial Intelligence's seemingly inexplicable ability to predict events before they occurred and I _knew_ the only way they could do that would be with the help of a spirit, and I had the strongest feeling that it was Her.” Root shrugged. “She thinks there may have been some residual link between us from when She helped me as a child.”

There were huge gaping holes in the story that Shaw itched to fill in, but the broad flow of events made sense.

“So you help her out of gratitude?”

“No, or rather not only out of gratitude.”

It was enough like Shaw's answer about why she worked with Reese that Shaw saw the irony of Root not understanding that bit, but then she herself didn't quite understand Root's connection to Machina, so maybe they were even on that score.

“She matters to me more than anything else.” Root's voice was quiet, but fierce.

Things had gotten a little weird again and Shaw was incredibly grateful for the sight of the stables in the distance.

“I think we'll make it there before dark,” she said, pointing out the distant buildings to Root. “If I remember there's an inn there as well. Hopefully they have room for us for the night.”

Root picked up her pace a little bit, no doubt just as eager as Shaw to be clean again and sleep in a real bed. It took them less than half an hour to reach the cluster of buildings and there was enough daylight left that Shaw considered trying to ride a little further that night. The fact that their horses were clean and fresh while they themselves were covered in mud persuaded her to stay the night instead.

The inn was quite small and only had a single tub for guests to use so this time they had to take turns. It took Shaw several buckets of water before she felt like she'd gotten the mud off of every inch of herself. She'd never felt quite so glad to be clean again.

While Root was busy with her own bath, Shaw slipped out to the stables to find a stable hand who could be bribed into bathing Bear for her. She felt bad for both the girl and the muddy dog, but at least she wouldn't have to deal with it herself.

She stayed in the common room eating long after Root had returned to the room they had for the night. She might have mostly been recovered, but her appetite would probably be huge for another day at least.

When she got back upstairs to their room she found Root perched on the edge of one of the beds, carefully tightening the laces on one of the bracers Shaw had gotten her.

“You sure your skin is healed enough for that?” Shaw asked as she yanked her boots off.

“I think I might wait a few more days before I wear them, but I wanted to see how they looked.” Root held her arm out for inspection and wiggled her fingers. “What do you think?”

“Looks like it fits well.” Seeing Root's long, nimble fingers in this setting was a bit distracting. She wasn't sure if Root was up for anything tonight, but she was still bursting with excess energy and could definitely stand to go a few rounds. Maybe more than a few. She'd briefly considered finding a companion from down in the inn common room, but had quickly abandoned the idea. Her memories of last time were still fresh and Root had been _very_ talented even without the added stimulation from her blessing.

“I suppose we're leaving first thing in the morning?” Root asked as she carefully loosened the laces on the bracer so she could slide her arm free.

“Yeah, I don't think we can make it to the capital in a day, but we can try.” She had no clue what Provincial Intelligence planned to do with Reese, but she wanted to give them as little time as possible to do it. That was, unless he succeeded in escaping first.

“Well, in that case--” Root's voice was momentarily muffled as she pulled her shirt off over her head. “--we really shouldn't waste any more time.” Her feral grin was somewhat undermined by her failure of a wink, and Shaw just rolled her eyes and started pulling her own shirt off as well.

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

It was nice, Shaw thought a little bit later as Root's legs wrapped around her and her nails dug into Shaw's back, to sometimes skip all the games and pretending and just get right to it.

Root was hot and tight around her fingers, and every time Shaw thrust into her it pulled a breathy little gasp out of her right in to Shaw's ear, and she wondered if she'd ever been this turned on before just from the noises someone made in bed.

Root's fingers dug into her shoulders with more purpose, and tiny pulses of tingling ran through Shaw's body making her shiver all over and distracting her just long enough for Root to flip them over so she could hover above Shaw and ride her fingers until she came, gasping, and collapsed on top of her.

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

Shaw fought down her own impatient to keep going and let Root rest for a moment, sweaty and flushed with her head on Shaw's shoulder. She started feeling restless after about three minutes of being trapped under Root and shoved at her shoulder. “You gonna lie there all night?”

There was no response and upon closer inspection it appeared that Root was soundly asleep. Shaw sighed. At least Root had gotten her off first before rudely passing out on top of her. It occurred to her that Root hadn't gotten much sleep in the last few days--maybe she'd just spent the last bit of her energy. At least it had been for a good cause, even if it left Shaw in a slightly awkward position.

She ended up ungracefully dumping Root onto her back next to her so she could escape. Root whined slightly in protest but never fully regained consciousness. Shaw draped the blankets over her, feeling a little weird about it for no good reason, and then retreated to her own bed. Maybe it was for the best if they both got extra sleep--they needed to be ready to face whatever was waiting for them in the capital.

* * *

 

Reese had been ready for a fight when they finally opened the doors to his prison, but he hadn't been ready for them to fill the small cage with some sort of foul-smelling smoke that knocked him out.

The next time he woke up he was in an actual prison cell with stone walls and a metal door. They hadn't put manacles on him this time, but that didn't help him too much.

He spent the first hour pacing back and forth in the tiny cell, trying to stretch out after being confined in the horse-drawn cage for so long. The second hour he spent examining all the walls in great detail, trying to find a crack large enough to potentially let him repeat the trick he'd used back at the tunnels. Finally, with nothing else to do, he sat on the floor with his legs stretched out and went over everything he'd ever learned about withstanding torture techniques.

He wondered if Root and Shaw were here as well, in other cells. Would they try to use them against each other? It was the only torture method he really worried about working on him. And if they hadn't been captured, what then? He thought Shaw would probably come after him, but what about Root? What if Machina told them it was impossible?

Though, after taking a moment to reflect on that, if it actually was impossible to rescue him safely, he hoped that Machina would tell them that (not that Shaw had ever let impossible stop her before).

He was in the middle of an experiment with his barrier (could he make it dense enough around his face to prevent fumes from getting through and avoid getting knocked out that way again?) when the door to his cell swing open and, just like that, everything he thought he knew about his situation was turned upside down.

“Hello, John,” said Kara Stanton, framed in dim light of the doorway of his cell. “Long time, no see.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's a much longer sex scene next chapter if you were disappointed this one was so short. i've slowed down a bit on writing due to life stuff but hopefully i'll get back on track soon.
> 
> i purposefully didn't specify that kara had been killed in john's flashback, but i wasn't sure i was ever going to have her show up. kept her around just in case i got an idea. and apparently i did.


	11. Old Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sex stuff marked off by triple lines

The water they gave Reese to wash with was barely warm enough to be tolerable, but he didn't complain too much since it felt so damn good to finally wash the dried mud off of himself. His jailers had brought him some clean clothes as well, nothing fancy and the fit was a little small, but still preferable to changing back into his old mud-caked ones.

Once he was acceptably clean, he knocked on the door of his cell and a guard showed up a few minutes later to fetch him. None of the guards here wore any type of uniform or had any type of identifying marks on their jackets, which was definitely unusual though not as surprising as it might have been before he'd known who else was here.

Kara was waiting for him in a small room on the floor above the cells. They were still underground, or possibly in a building with no windows, and Reese had yet to spot a single thing that might tell him where he was or why.

“I wish everyone I interrogated agreed to talk for the price of a wash,” Kara said by way of a greeting. She motioned to the chair across from her.

Reese sat. “I said I wasn't going to even consider talking until I was clean, not that I would.”

“You haven't changed a bit, have you, John? So which one of you am I getting today? The hero or the killer?”

“The one who wants to know why I'm in a secret prison that I doubt the provincial army or the local guards know anything about. This where Provincial Intelligence prisoners mysteriously vanish to?” Though how Kara had ended up working for Provincial Intelligence (if she even did) after the army had tried to have them both killed was puzzling.

Kara smiled but didn't answer his question. “Did you even look for the person who gave the order? The one who decided to set us on each other and then send in a small army to make sure we died? Or did you just run away and try to pretend you could find some kind of normal life?”

“Neither.” He wasn't about to tell her that he'd spent several months living in the woods by himself eating squirrels. “Why, what did you do?”

“Oh, I made some new friends. I hear you did, too. A former Provincial Intelligence agent named Sameen Shaw and a woman who calls herself Root.” Kara sat forwards in her chair. “I know a lot about Shaw, but this Root is a bit of a mystery to me. My normal source of information is coming up dry, which is a first.”

Which meant either they hadn't captured the others or Kara hadn't been able to get anything out of Root yet.

“Here's the deal, John, I need you to do a favor for me, one which you're probably not going to want to do. We were partners long enough that I know that torture probably isn't going to work in this case, and that woman you used to have a thing for died a while back so can't use her for leverage.”

Reese was very glad he'd had so many years to practice controlling his reactions.

“Guess you'll just have to let me go then,” he said without expression. “Don't suppose you could lend me some coin and a horse? Doesn't have to be your nicest one. Second best will do.”

“And you still think you're funny, I see.” Kara stood up and went to pour herself a glass of water from a jug on the side table. She turned back around and leaned on the edge of the table to study him. “How long did we work together, John? You think I don't know everything there is to know about how that mind of yours works?”

Reese wanted to shift in his chair under her gaze, but he held still.

“You're a killer, John, but you never quite managed to enjoy it, did you? Sure you struck the final blow without hesitation, but you'd always be asking questions, wondering if the people we'd been sent to kill deserved it. You wanted to be the good guy in a world with no place for good guys, and that's why you're going to do exactly what I ask you to do.” She picked up a piece of paper from the table and handed it to him.

The artist had done a fairly decent job capturing Shaw's face, enough so that he thought the average soldier wouldn't have any trouble recognizing her.

Kara sipped her water quietly while she watched him.

“Is this supposed to mean something to me?” he asked. “I'm not sure what information your supposed source gave you, but Shaw's just someone I work with.”

“Oh, we know you two aren't involved, but I also know that back when you were ordered to kill me, you wouldn't have gone through with it. I was your partner then, much like she is now. You couldn't hurt me, and you won't let her be hurt either.”

His fingers tightened on the page fractionally.

“You wanted to know where you are, right? You're in the capital, and Shaw is only about a day behind you. We're fairly sure that Root is with her as well, though that's a little more complicated. Negative spaces can be tricky to interpret. Now when they get here, I can make sure they're greeted by an entire squad of men with crossbows at the city gate, or--” Kara sat back down across from him. “--I can let them pass unharmed. They'll be closely watched, of course, but as long as you cooperate I won't give the order to have them killed.”

It was a good threat, he'd give her that, but it wasn't quite good enough. Not only did he know that Shaw wouldn't be dumb enough to try entering the capital through the gates when they were wanted by Provincial Intelligence, but Root would have Machina to help watch their backs. Maybe Kara didn't know as much about Shaw as she thought she did.

“I can see you're not impressed,” Kara said, and he heard amusement in her voice that made him deeply uneasy. “Guess that means we were right about what this Root actually is.”

She knew about Machina. And now maybe she thought she knew that Root was Machina's...well, Reese wasn't sure what she was, but maybe Kara was. He cursed at himself even though there hadn't been any good way out of that one.

“I didn't think you'd go for that one,” Kara said, not sounding at all worried. “So let's try something else. About half a year ago you saved the life of a very influential noblewoman in this city. The two of you became quite good friends and you've been by to see her more than a few times.”

Reese's mind raced. How the hell did she know all this? They might have had someone tailing Root and Shaw now, but there was no way anyone should know about this earlier stuff. Except…. He had a sudden suspicion which made him sick to the stomach. Root _had_ said there was a second spirit trying to get to this plane. Was it allied with whoever Kara was working for?

“I've also got a fairly comprehensive list of people whose lives you've saved in the last year. Always did think you were the hero, didn't you?”

“What are you saying?” he asked though he already knew.

All the humor left Kara’s face. “What I'm saying, John, is that either you agree to do what I ask or I will start killing off every single one of the people you helped, starting with your friend. And I'll personally do everything in my power to drag your new partners into the cells next to yours so you can listen while I kill them. Slowly.”

The paper in his hands crumpled as he clenched his fists. He didn't doubt she'd do all of that; she'd probably enjoy it.

“What do you want me to do, Kara?”

Her smile came back. “Now that's much better.”

* * *

 

Shaw knew they couldn't make it to the capital in a single day, but she tried anyway. She kept them moving until well into the night when it got dark enough that she worried one of the horses might step in a hole and break a leg. Technically they had a spare horse since Reese's was short a rider and had to be led, but she still wasn't going to risk her own horse.

Root looked like she was falling asleep in the saddle and Shaw decided to take mercy on all of them and camp for the night.

She took the first watch. Not so much as a squirrel stirred the entire time and the loudest noise was when Root would let out an occasionally soft sigh in her sleep before rolling over. Shaw found herself watching Root more than was probably polite, but it wasn't like there was much else to look at.

Root was deeply asleep when it came time to switch watch, and Shaw hesitated and then quietly ordered Bear to stand guard instead. If things went badly in the capital the next day then Root was going to need to be in fighting condition.

Root didn't mention it the next morning, but she had this little smug smile on her lips like she knew something, which was ridiculous since there was absolutely nothing here to know at all. Whatever idea she had was wrong and that was all there was to it.

“What's the word?” Shaw asked as they got ready to depart.

“He's back in his cell. He doesn't seem to have been harmed, but he's been brooding extra hard since he got back.”

Shaw wondered if that was actually the wording Machina had used. At least Reese was okay then. He'd vanished from Machina's sight for a good bit of time the day before, something that Root had found very disturbing.

“Machina have a way for us to get him out?” Shaw had spent a good deal of time in the capital when she'd been at the university, but she hadn't exactly spent her time examining the prisons there. She was confident they could find a way in, but the help couldn't hurt.

“She's working on it. He's not even in a real prison for some reason and what's really odd is most people don't seem to know he's there. She says that no one in the leadership of Provincial Intelligence has been informed.”

That was definitely surprising and probably not good. “If you're planning on making someone disappear permanently, the less people who know about them, the better. Though they could just execute him and no one would care, so I don't get why someone would hide him.”

Root climbed up onto her horse. “I guess we'll find out.”

Shaw took it a little slower for the next few hours to let the horses recover more, but picked up the pace again in the afternoon. They were back on the roads now and the going was much easier. Root stayed quiet for the most part, though she mumbled under her breath a lot--talking to Machina no doubt. Shaw didn't mind the lack of conversation, but, well, Root was interesting. Between her and Machina there was an entire wealth of knowledge and insights that Shaw had come to enjoy and riding this long got boring.

It did give her time to turn things over in her mind. There were a lot of big unknowns still and many of them had to do with what Machina couldn't see. It was like someone was deliberately hiding things from her, which should have been impossible. Except Root had said that she'd hidden herself from the spirits and she'd dodged every question about that so far. Well, no time like the present.

“How are you hiding from the spirits?” she asked the next time they slowed down to a walk to let the horses breath.

Root looked up from her mumbled conversation. “Just a little trick I picked up.”

“We've got people vanishing from Machina's view so now might be a good time to expand on that.”

Root waved a hand dismissively. “I doubt anyone else can hide themselves the way I do. It's far too complicated.”

She certainly didn't lack for confidence where her skills came in and Shaw couldn't argue based on what she'd seen of Root, but that left the question of what was actually going on then.

“If you're so sure of that then how do you explain what's been happening?”

“The most likely scenario? Another spirit is interfering with Her ability to see specific things. Or, more likely, specific places.”

“Another spirit.” It did make sense, but Shaw didn't like it much. “This be the other spirit you said might end up on this plane?”

“There's no way of knowing that at the moment.”

Shaw would have kept pressing for more information, but she spotted a signpost in the road ahead that drew her attention.

“We're about to meet up with the main road to the capital. There'll be a lot more people around from then on out. Think it's time to head off the road again.”

She kept them parallel to the main road, but out of sight as much as possible. It got harder to do as they neared the capital as there were small towns and farmland everywhere, and Shaw switched over to a more roundabout route through the towns to keep them away from most of the people in the area. Once they were in the city there'd be people everywhere, but she wanted to avoid the most common ways of entering so that they could get in unseen before vanishing into the crowds.

The capital city had gates, though since there was not a continuous wall around the entire area they were more for keeping an eye on goods and supplies being brought in and out of the city than for monitoring individuals. It was easy enough to ride their horses into the city on a small, side road and avoid the gates altogether.

“Where's Reese at?” Shaw asked as they walked their horses down a road between some decrepit houses, Bear trotting at their side. This section of the capital wasn't in the best of repair and the residents were careful to avoid them as they passed--no one wanted trouble with the city guard. The people on the streets looked more tense than she'd remembered, exuding a quiet anger though at who or what, Shaw was unsure.

“Somewhere we can't barge into without a plan. We need a place to stay first and then we can work out the details.” Root turned to look at her. “She says you know someone we can stay with?”

There were only two people in the capital that Shaw would trust not to sell them out right now.

“Yeah, I know a place, but if there really is some other spirit that's working against us, I'm not going to bring that sort of trouble to a friend's doorstep.”

“A friend?” Root sounded curious. “The spirits can see everything, so if either you or John have friends here, they already know about them.”

“I don't want to draw more attention to them. If Provincial Intelligence comes looking for us--”

“Provincial Intelligence isn't communicating with any spirits right now other than the basic information Machina still gives them.”

“But if this spirit is keeping Machina from seeing wherever it was Reese vanished to yesterday….” It would have no reason to hide Provincial Intelligence agents like Martine from them if it wasn't working with them, would it? “Who exactly is it that's holding Reese?”

“Good question.”

* * *

 

“Your friend Shaw has arrived in the city.”

Reese looked up to see Kara in the doorway of his new room. He hadn't agreed to anything yet other than hearing out what Kara wanted him to do, but she must have decided that her threats were enough of a deterrent to allow him to have an actual bedroom to stay in. The room was still small, windowless, and the door locked and guarded, but he had a real bed and clothes and decent food brought to him.

“I thought you'd want to know,” Kara continued. “She entered the city on the south side accompanied by a woman who matches Root's description. I have some of my best people tailing them now.”

Reese wondered where they'd go. He was fairly confident that Shaw would try to rescue him. Was this whole thing also a trap for her and Root?

“If you keep threatening me without telling me what you actually want, it's not going to get you anywhere.” He tried for his friendliest smile. “You see, the way these things work is you tell the person what you want them to do, they say no, and then you threaten them. You've got the order all wrong.”

One of Kara's eyes twitched almost imperceptibly.

“But I guess maybe you're out of practice. I'm sure it'll all start coming back to you in no time. I can give you some pointers if you'd like--”

“Shut up, John, or I'll have one of your friends killed just for fun.”

He'd definitely struck a nerve, but he wouldn't put it past her to do just that so he lapsed back into silence.

“Fine, let's talk about what you're going to do.” Kara came fully into the room and shut the door behind her. “I need you to kill someone.”

“Anyone in particular, or should I just go out on the street and stab the first passerby?” Clean clothes and a nap had done wonders for his mood.

“Three nights from now there's going to be a ball held at the Lord Governor's palace to celebrate the visit of the emissary the Emperor has sent over to discuss the new tax and trade laws. You are going to attend that ball with me.”

“You want me to kill the Lord Governor?” He didn't particularly like her, but he definitely wasn't interested in killing her and couldn't imagine what purpose it would hold. She was a native of the province, but she'd been appointed by the Imperials to manage things which didn't make her popular. If she died, the Imperials would just appoint someone else.

Kara chuckled at his question, obviously enjoying his confusion.

“No, John,” she said. “I want you to kill the Imperial emissary.”

* * *

 

Root was startled by the unannounced appearance of a city guard on the street. Unannounced because, unlike the last guards they'd come near, Machina hadn't warned her about this one.

“What the hell….”

When Root glanced over at Shaw she was about as tense as Root had ever seen her be.

“Problem?” she asked, the question aimed at both Shaw and Machina.

“Maybe.” Shaw swung her leg over her horse and hopped down, tossing the reins to Root. “Stay here.” She set off directly towards the guard.

Root wasn't sure what she'd done to give Shaw even the remotest impression that she'd stay put when told to. She was slightly insulted. It took her only a second to dismount her own horse and follow Shaw, leading all the horses behind her.

“--but why are you here?” Shaw asked as Root got closer.

“You think I don't hear about everything going on in this city, Shaw?” The guard was a woman Root had never seen before, a Captain based off the marks on her shoulder. She looked over as Root approached. “She with you?”

Shaw looked back at Root and then away again and shrugged. “Yeah, seems that way. We're looking into the same thing at the moment anyway.”

There was nothing about getting involved with a Captain of the guard that seemed like a good idea to Root, but running off now would have been highly suspicious and drawn all sorts of unwanted attention.

Root put on her most winning smile, stepped forwards, and offered her hand. “You can call me Root. It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain…?”

The guard hesitated for a second before shaking her hand, as if she could tell there was something slightly off. Those were some unfortunately good instincts she had.

“Carter. Captain Joss Carter.”

Shaw looked back and forth between them frowning. Probably not how she'd expected this meeting to go then. “Great, now that that's out of the way, you want to tell me what's going on, Carter?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing. You and John showed up last time right before all the trouble started. Now I've got a city where tensions are already running high and a bunch of Imperials are due to show up soon and here you are again. You can see why I might be concerned.”

_~The new Imperial tax law is very unpopular, especially with residents of the city, many of who already pay more than they can afford to live here.~_

Machina had mentioned that before. Why wasn't She giving Root useful new information, preferably about Captain Carter?

“We're here looking for Reese, actually. Got himself captured during a mission. Don't suppose you know where he's being held?”

“If I did you know I would have helped him. I haven't heard anything. You sure he's in the city?”

_~Shaw and Reese saved the life of Joss Carter's son. They became friends during the experience.~_

Finally, an explanation, though still not nearly a much as Root would have liked.

“We have a pretty reliable source,” Shaw said. “But, uh, this whole thing could be really bad news, Carter, for anyone who gets involved with us at all, and for people close to you.”

“Taylor is staying with his father this week, he's not even in the city. And if John's gotten his dumb ass captured, you're going to need my help.”

Root definitely didn't want a city guard tagging along, even one Shaw seemed to hold in high regard.

_~You might need her assistance.~_

“I don't want it though.”

_~This is about more than just you. This is too much for anyone to deal with alone.~_

“I can manage.”

_~Please?~_

Now that was just unfair.

“Fine.”

She was aware the other two were watching her strangely.

“What was it you said you did, Root, was it?” Carter asked.

“Consulting for wayward heroes.”

Carter raised an eyebrow. “Uh-huh. Right. Well, if Shaw vouches for you then you're both welcome to stay at my house.”

“Thanks, but we'll be fine at an inn,” Shaw said quickly. “I won't stop you from helping us rescue Reese, but I'm not going to risk having Provincial Intelligence kicking in your door.”

“There's a nice place down the street from me. I know the owner so I'll make sure you get a good rate. And once you're settled in, we can talk about John.”

“Works for me.” Shaw turned. “Root?”

She still wasn't crazy about the idea of working with a guard, but Machina had asked nicely and Shaw was looking at her like her opinion actually mattered. She found it very hard to deny either of them like this.

“I suppose we'd better be going then.”

* * *

 

The real form of torture for Reese was sitting in his tiny room for hours on end only being able to imagine what the others were up to. Maybe Kara had lied about Root and Shaw being in the capital after all, or maybe it had been a trap and they'd already been captured or killed. His imagination was far crueler than anything Kara could have cooked up, and when he stopped thinking about his friends, he started thinking about the little job Kara had for him.

Kill the Imperial emissary.

Without knowing who Kara was working for it was hard to guess why she'd want this person (he didn't even know their name) dead. So he worked at the problem from the other direction. What would happen if the Imperial emissary died?

Obviously the Emperor would be upset. There'd probably be an official investigation and a lot of Imperial troops all over the capital which would just push tensions higher. If stirring up unrest between the northern province and the Emperor was the goal, then they'd need to make sure the assassin was an actual citizen of the northern province, preferably one who might have been ordered to carry out the murder.

In that respect he fit the bill perfectly, but what he still didn't understand was what the end goal was. Did someone want to start a revolution against the Emperor? That sounded like a sure way to get everyone here slaughtered and no one benefited from that.

Reese abruptly sat up on his bed as the realization dawned on him. Because someone did benefit from the Empire going to war with its own provinces. Spirits fed well when people used their blessings to fight, and Kara was very likely working for another spirit. Was that what all this was about? The spirits feasting on another war?

He had to find a way to get word to Root and Shaw.

“Supposedly you can hear me, right?” he asked the empty room quietly. “I need you to tell Shaw what's going on if you haven't already. Tell her about Kara and this whole plan to assassinate the Imperial emissary and that it might lead to a war.” It occurred to him that he was talking to a spirit who might also profit from such a fight. “I really hope you're actually on our side or we're all fucked right now.”

There was a sound of water splashing and he quickly got up and went to the basin left on the table for him to wash with. As he watched, letters formed on the surface of the water.

- _I will tell her.-_

* * *

 

Shaw was starting to run a little low on coin--inns were expensive and leaving their horses in the stables while they were in the swamp had cost quite a lot. She weighed her coin purse in her palm. At this rate they'd need more funds in two days unless they went back to living off the land (hard to do in the middle of a city).

The inn that Carter had wanted them to stay at had been full beyond capacity, as had the next two closest to Carter's house. The inn they'd finally found was a bit further away and a lot less nice, but it had a single room available in the attic for that next few days.

The Imperial visit had brought scores of people flooding into the city for all the festivities and grandeur that would be on display for the duration. None of these visitors would get to so much as set eyes on the emissary or their entourage let alone attend any of the official functions, but there would still be parties and frivolity all over the city. Everyone loved an excuse to act like idiots. Shaw was tired just thinking about it.

“Something wrong, sweetie?” Root was sitting on the edge of the only bed in the room (an unfortunate obstacle that they'd chosen to ignore for the time being). She had both her bracers on now and was tightening the last of the laces. Shaw wasn't convinced that her arms were fully healed yet, but at least the branching red marks on her forearms hadn't looked inflamed or infected and Shaw could understand the reassurance of having something more substantial than sleeves covering the very recognizable burns.

“Running out of money. I'm going to have to go rob someone soon.” She was almost looking forwards to it.

Root finished with the ties and flexed her arms to examine the results. “Oh, don't worry about that. I'll just go make a withdrawal from the bank.”

Shaw blinked. “ _You_ have money in a bank?”

“Well, I couldn't very well just hide it all in a hollow tree now could I?”

This Shaw had to see in person. However, her curiosity would have to wait until they'd addressed the more immediate concern. She finally selected a shirt from the ones she'd been debating over and pulled it on over her head.

“We should go meet up with Carter now.”

Root was silent for the walk to Carter's house, no doubt listening to Machina and observing the happenings of the city unfolding around them. The city had never been the stablest part of the province--resentment towards Imperial law tended to flare up here--but the level of unrest was currently at a fever pitch. Some people might be here to use the Imperial visit as an excuse to celebrate, but there were a lot of people clearly very unhappy about things, especially in this section of the city (it wasn't the poorest neighborhood by far, but it wasn't affluent either). Twice she saw groups of people gathered together being watched cautiously from a distance by several guards. All it would take was one person to brush by a guard a little too roughly and the whole city would dissolve into chaos.

“It's the tax laws,” Root said quietly as they walked. “They're not the last straw, but they may very well be the second to last. The Imperials already take our lumber and ore for themselves and then tax us for our own property on top of that. Lately folks have been wondering what will happen after all our resources are depleted. The Imperial visit has got people extra upset.”

The provinces had been part of the Empire for a long time now--four or five generations. After the initial bloody ten years, most of the remaining time things had been quiet but resentful with respect to the Imperial rule, but the last few years had seen a return of the deep-set hatred, fed down through the generations and revived in the face of harsher taxes, stricter laws, and the death tolls that continued to mount in the wars between the provinces (even though no province wanted the Empire to interfere directly with the fighting, there was still an underlying feeling that the Empire should do _something_ to end the conflicts--preferably do something to the _other_ provinces).

“What does Machina think of all this?” It was kind of awkward to know some other species was watching this whole mess, though from what Root had told her, the spirits had their own mess to deal with.

“Think of all this in what way?” Root asked. “She's definitely concerned about violence breaking out in the city, especially if it puts us at risk.”

“I can see that, but I meant what does she think about it, like what her opinion on the entire situation is.”

Shaw wasn't sure why that question would make Root get that soppy look she got sometimes, but Root's whole face softened a little and the hint of a real smile appeared on her lips.

“She thinks that the needless violence our species is capable of is devastating, but She's not sure how to even begin fixing this current situation. There's layers of complexity, and even the smallest change for the better in the long run would potentially have horrible consequences for those who can least afford them in the immediate future.”

That was way more logical than Shaw had expected. She'd thought of Machina as spiritual, for lack of a better term, operating as some kind of mystic guidance, but the longer she travelled with Root the more she realized that Machina worked off of logic and prediction based on facts. Those were things Shaw could appreciate.

“We're a lost cause then?”

“Hmm, not a lost cause, but definitely a difficult puzzle to sort out.”

Carter's house was small but well-maintained and tidier than Shaw remembered it being--possibly due to Taylor being away. Shaw settled down in a seat at the small table while Carter got a pitcher of water and glasses from the kitchen. It was hard to make herself sit still and be patient now that they were here in the city and Reese was nearby. She itched with the urge to do something.

Root wandered around the small house, peering at everything curiously. She paused to examine a tunic (too small for an adult) that had been folded over the back of a chair.

“Looking for something?” Shaw asked.

“No, not really.” Root traced the line of neat stitches that must have been to repair a tear on the shoulder of the garment and then set it aside with a frown. “Do you have a map of the city?”

The question was for Carter who had just returned with the water.

“Should have one upstairs in my room.”

“I'll get it.” Shaw was already on her feet and headed for the stairs, unable to sit still any longer.

“My room's on the left at the top,” Carter called after her.

“Yeah, I remember.”

The city map was one of the many rolled parchments on Carter's desk alongside some building layouts and a larger map of the world. Carter helped her spread it out over the table so they could all see it.

“Where's Reese being held?” Shaw asked Root.

Root looked at the map for a few seconds and then tapped a location with one finger. “The corner building here. He's in a room without windows on the ground floor, heavily guarded by people without any sort of uniforms or insignia.”

“Just how do you know all this?” Carter asked.

“Information from a friend.”

Shaw would rather have filled Carter in on all of it immediately, but it wasn't fully her secret to share and Root, well, there were some trust issues there for sure.

Carter didn't look satisfied with the answer, but she didn't press. “I know which building you mean. It was abandoned for a long time, all boarded up. Someone bought it a year ago, but it still doesn't look like it gets much use. Definitely still boards on the windows.” She turned to Shaw. “Could Provincial Intelligence be using it for something?”

“I guess they could be, but why would they? Not really their style. They have a very secure prison under their headquarters here.” Which was what she'd expected to have to break Reese out of. She wasn't sure if this was better or worse. “Maybe they're part of the army, you know, the part Reese used to work for.” She wasn't sure his special division had even had a name.

“Possible, I guess. That would make it a little trickier to rescue him since the special army troops tend to have stronger blessings, and from what you told me, chances are they're expecting a rescue attempt. Whole thing could be a trap.”

“It _is_ a trap.”

Shaw looked up at Root. Machina must have just told her something (she was starting to get the hang of being able to tell stuff like that just from Root's expressions) and, whatever it was, Root didn't look pleased.

“They're expecting us to go after him there, and they're very well prepared for us. We might still be able to pull it off, but it would be risky. Too risky.”

“We're not leaving Reese there.”

“Of course not, however, he'll be somewhere else in three days where it might be easier to get to him.”

Shaw didn't like the idea of leaving Reese captured for that long, but she would agree that if there was a better place to stage a rescue from it might be worth waiting. “Where are they taking him?”

“He's going to be at the Lord Governor's palace for the ball to welcome the Imperials to the province. They plan to coerce him into killing the Imperial emissary though She's not quite sure why.”

Shaw let that sink in for a minute. There were a lot of questions that needed answering based off of that, but there was once more important than the others. “Who wants him to do this? Who's pulling the strings?”

“She can't see them.”

“Who's this ‘she’?” Carter asked. “And why would anyone want John of all people to kill an Imperial?”

“She's.…” Root looked irritated at having to answer the question. “It's part of my blessing and it's complicated. And I have no idea why John would be involved in this.”

“How will it be easier to get to him at the ball?” Shaw asked, trying to stay focused. Carter and Root could sort out the rest later.

“Because it's an extremely exclusive, invitation only event. No one can march an entire troop of soldiers in there and setting a trap would be impossible unless whoever it is we're up against is in charge of the Lord Governor's security, which She thinks is unlikely.”

“We're doing extra duty patrolling near the palace that night,” Carter said, “but even we don't get to go inside the palace. How're you planning on getting in?”

“We'll need to get an invitation.” Root turned to Shaw. “She says you know someone who can get us one?”

“Me?” Shaw couldn't imagine who she meant. She didn't know anyone in the city other than a few people she'd helped out with Reese and-- Oh. Right. “I guess that might work. If anyone could get us in to the most exclusive party of the year, it would be her.”

Carter seemed to have come to the same conclusion as her at the same time because she was nodding in agreement. “Guess we should send a message to Lady Morgan to see if she'll see you two.”

Shaw wasn't worried about that part--Zoe was a friend--but she hated that they were dragging yet another person into this. She didn't have a better idea though.

“We'll go see her tomorrow then.” It was too late to call on someone tonight. “First thing in the morning.”

* * *

 

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

As impatient as Root was for morning to come so they could move along with their plan, she was glad for the time alone with Shaw that night, even if she'd somehow ended up with her wrists tied to the bed frame with her own shirt as punishment for ‘unnecessary poking’. (It wasn't her fault that she'd found out where Shaw, who theoretically was in perfect control of her body, was ticklish).

Not that Root minded at all, especially not when Shaw dragged her teeth down her hip bone and dug her fingers into one of Root's thighs hard enough to bruise. These encounters always ended with both of them covered in each other's marks, and even though Shaw could easily have healed all the bites and scratches Root left on her, she hadn't bothered to after the last time, much to Root's delight.

Shaw paused her downwards journey to look back up at her. “You need me to untie you?”

As if Root couldn't have released herself in under five seconds. But it was nice that Shaw had stopped to ask, twice now.

“No, but there's definitely something else I need you to do.” She prodded Shaw with her heel.

Shaw rolled her eyes in a good-natured way and picked back up where she'd left off, lifting Root's hips with her hands so she could bury her face between her legs. Shaw took a certain amount of pride in getting Root off with just her mouth, Root had found out, and fuck but if she wasn't damned good at it. The feeling of Shaw's tongue licking over her and pressing into her, followed by Shaw wrapping her lips around her clit and sucking hard had Root arching her back and grinding into Shaw's mouth, her arms tugging against the makeshift constraints until she finally broke free and could grab onto Shaw's hair and pull her closer, reveling in the wet sounds Shaw's mouth made between her legs. Shaw's fingers dug into her hips hard and her nails scored red lines across her skin as her tongue pressed into her again. Root's legs tightened around Shaw as she felt her body flush with heat and her muscles start to spasm, The heat of Shaw's mouth wrapped around her again and Shaw made a noise almost like a growl which reverberated through Root's whole body and she was gone, spasming and shaking around Shaw for what seemed like an eternity before relaxing back into the hard inn mattress with a content sigh.

Shaw crawled up the bed enough to straddle her hips and examine the remains of the shirt she'd used to tie Root up.

“Hope you weren't too attached to this.” She held it up to show that one of the arms had been almost completely ripped off.

“Hmm, I'll be willing to accept an apology for it if you give me a few minutes.”

“You're the one who ripped it up.”

Root shifted a little uncomfortably. “I think I pulled a muscle in my leg, too.”

Shaw smirked. “Oops.”

“Hmph.” She ran her hands up Shaw's thighs to her hips. “Guess I'll have to step up my game.”

It was almost unbelievable, she thought as she slid first one and then two fingers into the heat and wetness of Shaw's body, how effortlessly compatible they'd turned out to be at this. It wasn't only that Shaw was the best sex she'd ever had (which she definitely was), but there was something so easy about all of it, so in sync.

Shaw braced herself on her forearms and knees above Root as she rocked against her hand and Root even managed to pull a deep, guttural moan of satisfaction from her when she maneuvered to bite down on one of Shaw's breasts and run her tongue over her nipple. She grabbed Shaw's ass with her free hand and released just the slightly pulse of electricity making Shaw twitch and shiver above her.

“Fuck.” Shaw's voice sounded deeper and more affected than Root had anticipated. “Do that again.”

When Root repeated the brief shock (making it just a tiny bit stronger this time), Shaw threw her head back and Root felt her clench hard on her fingers. She swallowed, throat suddenly dry, completely in awe of the sight of Shaw above her. She continued the small pulses of electricity, timing them to the movements of her fingers inside Shaw and watched as Shaw fell apart magnificently above her.

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

 

They both lay on their backs on the bed after, not touching, but neither in a hurry to move. The problem of the single bed came back to Root's mind and a thread of worry pushed its way through the languid bliss. Because she'd been watching Shaw almost constantly since this whole thing started and while there was no mistaking Shaw's attraction to her, she'd gotten the impression that sex, however mind-blowing, was as far as Shaw went with people. And before this it had been as far as Root had ever desired to go, too. Something had changed though, and whether that was Machina's influence or there was just something about Shaw specifically, it didn't matter. Just because she wanted something didn't mean Shaw did, too. She didn't want this comfort and ease that existed between them now to shatter because she pushed for something Shaw didn't want.

Next to her on the bed, Shaw grunted and then struggled to stand up. Root watched silently as Shaw briefly washed up with the water in the basin and then checked the lock on the door and window yet again.

“It'll be nice when we finally have a day we can sleep in on,” Shaw said finally. “Getting tired of waking up before dawn.”

“Agreed.”

Root held her breath as she waited to see what Shaw would do next. She'd thought that Shaw might pull out her blankets and sleep on the floor and therefore was slightly astonished when Shaw got back into the bed, and arranged herself on her side, facing away from Root on the far side of the bed. A compromise, she thought, and one she was very grateful for.

She got up long enough to wash herself up and then slipped back into the other side of the bed, taking care to preserve the distance between them. From the sound of Shaw's deep, even breaths she was already asleep, but it took Root over an hour to follow her. She wasn't sure she'd ever fallen asleep on the same bed as someone else before and the entire situation was unnerving. Every tiny shift from Shaw snatched Root back from the edge of sleep. It wasn't until Machina's comforting presence wrapped itself around her that she was finally able to fall asleep.


	12. Preparations

“You and John have really acquired a wide variety of allies,” Root said as they approached the residence of Lady Zoe Morgan. With a few exceptions, it wasn't possible to have a real mansion inside the crowded city, so most of the wealthy residents settled for smaller, but still excessively luxurious houses, crammed into the wealthier neighborhoods and separated only by ornate fences. The house Root had grown up in could have fit into the front yard of any of the houses here four times over.

“Reese has this weird charisma or something,” Shaw said. “It's really lame.”

Lame, perhaps, but currently useful. Root was almost warier of trusting some rich socialite than a guard, but Lady Morgan was currently their best shot at getting into this ball.

Root's discomfort with the whole situation increased when an actual butler in a neat uniform opened the gates for them and led them up to the house. It wasn't that she had never dealt with anyone who could afford servants before, but she'd always done so while working some kind of con job or the occasional assassination.

Lady Zoe Morgan looked as perfectly styled as Root had expected her to based on the brief overview Machina had given her earlier. Definitely not a politician, but she excelled at politics, Machina had informed her. Half the aristocracy owed her a favor and the other half were terrified of her.

Root watched her closely as she crossed the floor of her meticulously clean sitting room to greet them.

“I heard you were back in town, Shaw.”

“Was there a city-wide announcement or something?” Shaw asked, exasperation in her voice.

Zoe only smiled in response. “Are you going to introduce me to your mysterious friend?”

Root held back a smirk at the description. Shaw turned to eye her dubiously.

“This is Root. She's, uh, she's helping me try to find John.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Lady Morgan.” Root had close to a hundred carefully pitched and enunciated greetings for people of various backgrounds. Yesterday when she'd met Carter she'd gone for cheerfully polite and respectful (though she thought she might have miscalculated that slightly), but for Zoe she went with a more ingratiating tone of respect. Zoe would expect that as a member of the aristocracy, even if she wasn't a highly placed one, and Root had no desire to have someone with Zoe's propensity to dig into people's lives take an interest in her.

_~She is not a threat to you.~_

Root remained unconvinced, but intrigued that Machina had been able to pick that up from the tone of her voice alone.

Zoe motioned them to sit--the more comfortable-looking chairs, Root noted, rather than the very fancy looking ones with no cushions that she assumed Zoe offered to people she wanted to encourage to leave faster. Zoe was definitely quite good at manipulating people.

“I hadn't heard that John was back in the capital,” Zoe said as she sat down as well. “Is there a reason you're looking for him here?”

“We know he's in the city,” Shaw said. “The people who brought him here were careful though.”

“Brought him? He's being held captive then?”

“Yes, and there's a trap waiting for us if we try to rescue him. The good news is we know where he'll be in a few days and it might be safer to help him then. Only problem is it's a bit of an exclusive event.”

Zoe raised an eyebrow. “The ball for the Imperial emissary? Why would someone bring John there?”

“We're not completely sure.”

It was interesting to compare what Shaw chose to tell Zoe to what she'd told Carter yesterday. It was clear that Zoe and Shaw had some level of trust between them, but Shaw was still cautious. Was it because of Zoe's rank or just that Shaw knew Carter better? Root only half paid attention to the incomplete details Shaw gave, choosing instead to study both the other women discreetly, note their body language and expressions. Neither gave away much, but with Zoe it was an elaborately constructed facade (not unlike herself, Root admitted), whereas Shaw's casually neutral expression came naturally to her. Root was starting to be able to read the tiny subtleties in Shaw's face, to learn to pick up small clues where she could.

“I should be able to get invitations for both of you for the ball,” Zoe said, pulling Root's attention back. “Or rather, for one of you plus a companion.”

“That'll work.”

Root was a little surprised Shaw hadn't objected, but then she'd always been very practical.

“Do either of you have anything even remotely appropriate to wear?” Zoe asked. “This is a little more than your average fancy party.”

“Figured I'd find something nice to steal,” Shaw said, unconcerned.

“Shaw, no one is going to show up at this wearing clothes they bought. This is the sort of event that private tailors spend months preparing garments for.”

Shaw made a disgusted noise and Root silently agreed with her. She had plenty of money now since they'd stopped at the bank on the way here (a deeply amusing trip), but finding a tailor able to make quality clothes for them under this time constraint would be nearly impossible.

Zoe smiled. “I figured as much. Luckily for you, my tailor enjoys a challenge.”

* * *

 

“Is it larger than a goat?” Reese asked, exhausted. He wasn't sure how much longer he could keep this up.

_-Yes-_

He eyed the word written on the water of his washbasin distrustfully.

“Is it larger than a building?” he asked, his fourth question, not that he anticipated needing all twenty to guess Machina's mystery this time.

_-No-_

He sighed. He could try to play dumb, but if the last three rounds of this game were and indication, he knew exactly where this was going.

“Is it Root?”

_-Yes. Well done.-_

Reese let his head sink down into his hands. “You can't just choose Root every time.”

The guessing game was his final resort after hours of excruciating boredom. He'd spent as much time and energy at he could practicing manipulating his blessing, but even that had gotten dull eventually. Now he was reduced to this.

He peeked through his fingers to see Machina's answer.

_-Why not?-_

“Because it's too easy to guess then and it ruins the entire point of the game.”

_-Ah, I see.-_

Did she really though?

_-I have selected something new for you to guess.-_

He had a sneaking suspicion. “Is it Shaw?”

_-Yes. Well done. You are very good at this game.-_

Reese wanted to cry.

* * *

 

Shaw hadn't wanted to accept Zoe's offer to stay at her house, but she'd been forced to admit it made sense for her and Root to be near all the people who'd been helping get them ready for this damn ball. Root had been even less thrilled than she had.

“For someone who hates rich people so much, you sure do have a lot of money,” Shaw pointed out as they walked back from the inn with their stuff. She'd been utterly bemused the entire time they'd been at the bank, first by Root's perfect shift into a supercilious, refined aristocrat, and second by the amount of coin Root had access to (under yet another fake name).

“That's because I took it all from the rich people I hate.”

“And generously donated it to those in need instead of stashing it in a bank.”

Root shrugged. “I don't like anyone, Shaw. There's just some people I dislike more than others.”

Shaw was about to respond, but her attention was drawn by a crowd near the end of the street. Four armed guards were holding back a crowd of people as two more guards led a man away with his hands bound behind him. The potential for violence was humming through the air.

“Maybe we should go around the long way,” she said. Getting involved in this was the last thing they needed right now.

“Good thinking,” Root agreed.

“She know what the guy did?” Shaw asked as they turned down a side street.

“Broke the window of a store. The owner was originally from the Imperial mainland.”

“That was dumb.” Got nothing done and had gotten the guy arrested, though maybe that had been the point--riling up the crowd more. She was glad they'd be out of here soon.

It felt a little odd to escape to the quiet, clean streets of Zoe's neighborhood. A few minutes away there were protesters being arrested on the streets, but here everything was kept civil by the large number of guard patrols.

“After we rescue Reese and save this emissary, how long do we have to stick around? To take care to the third anchor I mean?”

“I was hoping we could take care of both of them at the same time actually.”

It took Shaw a second to put it together. “You mean the last anchor is in the Governor's palace?”

“Under it actually. The most secure place in the province supposedly, but all the palace security will be focused on the Imperial visitors that night.”

“Provincial Intelligence will be expecting us.”

“True, but I still think it's our best shot, and so does She.”

“Hope Zoe's tailor can make us something acceptable to high society and that we can still fight in it.”

Zoe's tailor turned out to be a stern-looking woman who was even shorter than Shaw. Shaw wasn't sure if her disgusted look was due to their generally bedraggled appearance or if that was just how she looked normally, but either way Shaw got the feeling that they didn't meet her expectations.

“So, listen,” she said as the woman stalked around her in a circle, muttering to herself. “Whatever we wear we're going to need to be able to hide some weapons under it and it's going to have to be something we can fight in or where we can change into something else easily, uh...okay?”

The tailor tsked loudly which meant at least she'd heard. Shaw exchanged a look with Root who just shrugged. The next half hour was probably the least amount of fun Shaw had ever had while taking her clothes off, but at the end of it she'd been thoroughly measured and charted.

“So what do we do until tomorrow night?” Root asked as she watched Shaw pull her shirt back on. Root had gotten measured first and then spent the entire time Shaw was being measured unabashedly checking her out. Not that Shaw hadn't done the same while Root had been mostly naked, but she'd been more discreet about it. Slightly.

“You telling me Machina doesn't have a whole schedule planned out for us?”

“Machina wants us to keep out of trouble. Stay indoors and off the streets in case anything happens out there.”

Shaw gave Root a skeptical look. “Really? You're really willing to stay put in a fancy house for the better part of a day and a half?”

“I said Machina wanted us to stay put, not that I planned to.”

Shaw chuckled. That was more like it. “Good, because there's something I wanted to check out.”

From all the contorted expressions on Root's face as they headed back out into the city, Shaw guessed that Machina was not a big fan of their current plan, which probably meant it was a terrible idea. But Shaw was done with sitting around and waiting. Machina had proven herself more than capable of giving them information, but sometimes Shaw needed to see things for herself. Root must have known (through Machina) where they were headed, but other than a few concerned frowns she didn't object.

They wove their way through the city streets, only changing course a few times to avoid the mobs of people that seemed to gather in places. Shaw wasn't sure exactly what to think of them. This sort of unrest generally led to needless amounts of innocent people getting hurt, but then the wars between the provinces that the Imperials almost encouraged led to the same thing. What she really wanted to know was what the Lord Governor planned to do about all this. She hadn't gotten the army involved yet which proved she wasn't completely stupid, but something was going to break soon and there'd be a mess to clean up after.

Shaw paused in an alley between two rows of houses. “Up here.”

It was getting dark out now so there was no one to see when they climbed up a stack of crates and onto the low roof of a nearby building. From there they made their way quietly over the rooftops until Shaw found what she was looking for. She crouched down on the roof to survey the building across from them.

“He's still in there, right?”

Root sat down next to her. “He hasn't gone anywhere. Machina says he's really bored.”

“And she's really sure there's no way we can get him out safely now?”

“Very sure.”

It was even more frustrating to be this close to where Reese was being held and unable to do anything, but when she looked carefully she noticed a few people lingering in the alleys near the building and a tiny bit of movement on the roof. Machina was right about this one.

They should have headed back right away, but Shaw stayed a while longer, watching the building, gauging the movements of all the people guarding it and filing it all away. She still hadn't ruled out busting Reese out the old fashioned way if she had to. Provincial Intelligence had killed her last partner, tried to kill her, and tortured Root. She wasn't planning to let them claim anyone else. Provincial Intelligence, or whoever the hell it was Martine had delivered Reese to.

Root seemed content to sit in silence next to her on the roof, just close enough that their shoulders were touching. After what must have been close to half an hour had passed, Root finally nudged her.

“We're supposed to be having dinner with Zoe and Carter soon.”

“Yeah, okay.”

The walk back was mostly quiet. People seemed to have gone home for the evening and while there were still guards out, none of them seemed interested in the two of them.

“Guess we should change for dinner,” Root said as they headed up the staircase in Zoe's house. “I think Zoe generously lent us some clothing that isn't ripped up or covered in mud.”

There was that slight edge in Root's voice when she talked about Zoe that told Shaw that she still didn't particularly like or trust her. Shaw couldn't blame her--it had taken her a little while to warm up to Zoe as well.

The room Zoe had given her was large compared to the tiny inn rooms they'd been staying in, and the assortment of clothing in the closet was vast and varied. Shaw wasn't sure how fancy an affair dinner was supposed to be and she didn't really give a fuck about appearances, but it'd been a damn long time since she'd worn anything even slightly dressy. She went for a compromise of practical and comfortable--a soft grey velvet tunic and black breeches--and relished actually having the time it took to fully comb her hair out before pulling it back again. When she looked at herself in the mirror it was almost like seeing a ghost from the past. Or maybe a phantom from another life. Whoever Sameen Shaw was, she wasn't this person in the mirror and hadn't even had a chance of being that since she'd been kicked out of the university all those years ago. She was tempted to just put her travelling clothes back on and go down to dinner like that.

A knock on the door drew her attention and she turned around to see Root hovering in the doorway.

“Well, this is certainly different.”

Shaw could have said the same about Root--she'd also opted for at least somewhat practical, though her black pants were a little too form-fitting to really be easy to maneuver in. The deep green silk shirt was gathered at her waist with a black belt and the lacing that ran down the front front of her shirt had been left loose at her neck.

“I wonder if that tailor didn't have some clothes made for us already considering how well these fit.” Root ran her hands down her hips and Shaw's eyes tracked the movement. She was pretty sure Root hadn't managed to wash and dry her hair in this short amount of time, but it looked shiny and soft as if she had.

There were a lot of things she could have said right then, but she settled for, “We should go downstairs.”

“I guess we should.” Root was staring at her as if dinner was the last thing on her mind at the moment.

“Let's get this over with then.”

* * *

 

Reese had been grateful but suspicious of the invitation (order really) to join Kara for dinner. He was fairly sure now that the amount of time he'd been left to sit on his own was supposed to have made him desperate to talk to someone and more willing to chat now. It was an old trick, and not always particularly effective, especially not when the target of it knew what the deal was.

Still he didn't mind the nicer clothes the guards brought him (which fit much better) or the promise of good food.

The room the guards brought him to had covered up windows like the rest of this building. He wondered if that was to keep the place secret or to keep him from finding out where he was. Kara sat at the only table, already working her way through a heaping plate. The smell of roast chicken hit him and he tried to remember the last time he'd had a prepared meal like this. Possibly not since the last time he'd been in the capital visiting Zoe.

“It'll get cold if you just stare at it,” Kara said without looking up.

The guards who'd brought him here left the room leaving them alone. He knew enough about Kara's blessing to know that he probably wouldn't come out of a fight with her in good shape unless he hit her unawares, and then he'd have a building full of guards to deal with. He'd toyed with the idea of trying to escape the last day or so, but even if he could have, Kara's threat held him in check.

Also, he'd hoped for exactly this opportunity--a potential chance to get more out of Kara about this entire situation. That was worth the cost of a little boredom. Kara waited until he'd gotten a good start on his food before starting up conversation.

“Aren't you going to ask me more about tomorrow night, John? I can tell you're just dying to know more.”

He took his time finishing a forkful of potatoes before responding. “And I can tell you're just dying to have me ask, so where does that leave us?”

The smile on Kara's face slipped fractionally and she frowned. “If you mess this up tomorrow--”

“You'll kill everyone I've ever met, I got the message.”

“That was a serious threat.”

“Oh, I took it very seriously.” He had no doubts that Kara would follow through on her threat. He decided to back off of the snark for a little while. “I got the impression you're not going to tell me who you work for, but can you tell me what the purpose is? As far as I can see killing the Imperial emissary is only going to bring the Imperials down on the province. Is this some sort of revenge?”

Kara looked a little offended. “I'm not a traitor, John. Or at least not the way you might think. I really do have the best interests of the province in mind, even if no one in charge here would see it that way. There are much greater things at play now though and I want to make sure we come out on the winning side despite ourselves.”

“So why the emissary then?”

Kara spun her goblet of wine in her hand, the red liquid inside reflecting off the gold cup and throwing color across her face. “Did you know that the provinces all used to have names before the Empire conquered them?”

He'd known that though he couldn't recall what they were off the top of his head. Pre-empire history wasn't allowed to be taught here anymore.

“Names and culture and art and traditions and religions and a million other things the Empire took from us,” Kara continued. “Right now the city is full of people railing against Imperial rule, ready to strike back and reclaim our independence. Most of them don't know anything about the past, not really. They're mad about the taxes and the resource theft.” Kara set her glass down. “You see, the first thing the Imperials do when they conquer a country is they burn all the books and replace them with their own. Our great library is full of Imperial history and lies.”

“If there's a rebellion the Imperials will send troops and they will slaughter thousands. How would that help anything?”

“When the emissary dies, the Imperials will dispatch a small force to take direct command of the city until they get to the bottom of it. The city is ready to boil over already and having Imperial troops everywhere will push it over. A lot of people _will_ die, John, but only a tiny fraction of the population, and the rest of the province will be eager to finally strike back.”

Reese had given up all pretense of eating now and felt slightly sick. “Even if every person in the province were armed, we wouldn't stand a chance.”

“You're not wrong about that, but that's all I'm going to say for now. You're a clever boy. I'm sure you can figure the rest out on your own.”

That other spirit had to be involved, but unless it had way access to direct methods of interacting with their plane he didn't see how it could be enough. There was still a missing piece here.

“Oh, are you done eating already?” Kara asked with mock disappointment. “I guess it's time for you to go back to your room then.”

She rang a bell and the guards came back to lead him away.

“Until tomorrow, John.”

* * *

 

Shaw was grateful that Zoe had chosen to keep things fairly informal. There were no servants waiting on them and the silverware, while nicer than any Shaw had seen recently, was clearly not the finest in the house. There were still an unnecessary number of almost-identical forks and spoons, which, to her surprise Root navigated her way around with ease. Some day she was going to have to ask Root just where the hell she'd learned all this stuff. Shaw looked over all the forks and decided on the most useful looking one and stuck with that. If anyone had an issue with it she'd stab them with the spares.

“So I called in a few favors and managed to get myself reassigned to guard duty inside the palace tomorrow night,” Carter told them as they ate. “A few too many of the Lord Governor's personal guard got sick so she had to bolster the ranks with the city guards. Luckily for me the Lord Governor gave me a commendation earlier this year so I was near the top of her list.”

“We're definitely going to need the extra help,” Shaw said around a mouthful of bread. “Not only do we have to save Reese's dumb ass, but we have a second errand to run while we're in there.” She let Carter and Zoe remain curious until she'd finished her bread and washed it down with some unnecessarily sweet wine. “There's a certain...item that Provincial Intelligence has stored below the palace that we need to access. It's part of the same mission we've been on for a while now.”

“An item?” Carter didn't look pleased at the lack of detail.

“Those vaults are extremely well-guarded,” Zoe said. “And from what I've heard they're practically a maze.”

“That part won't be an issue.” It was the first thing Root had said for a while. “I know how to get through the maze.”

“I don't suppose you'd tell me how, now would you?” Zoe asked. “I've yet to find anyone with that sort of information and I've had plenty of people ask me for it.”

Root smiled sweetly. “Maybe I just have better contacts than you.”

Shaw snorted into her wine glass and then quickly wiped the smirk off her face when Carter gently kicked her in the leg. She scowled, indignant. Why hadn't Root been the one to get kicked?

“Do you have a plan for rescuing John and getting whatever it is you're stealing?” Carter asked. “You splitting up and covering both or doing one at a time?”

Shaw looked over at Root, because she had no damn clue what to expect in the palace, but maybe Machina did.

“Shaw is going to help Reese, and in all the confusion that causes I'm going to slip away and grab what we're after.”

Shaw frowned. “By yourself?” That part definitely hadn't come up before.

“I won't really be alone, Shaw. You know that.”

“Bullshit. You're going to get yourself killed, or captured. Again.” Shaw pointed her fork at Root. “Don't tell me you're that eager to spend time with Control again.”

Root's lips quirked up into an almost condescending smile. “Sweetie, I'll be fine.”

“Yeah, you'll be fine because I'm going with you.”

“You need to help Reese and protect the Imperial emissary.”

“I can do both.”

“At once?”

Carter cleared her throat. “As fascinating as this all is, I'm not sure it's getting us anywhere. Why don't we say the main goal will be getting to Reese, and Root will go after...whatever it is once he's safe, and Shaw and I will assist wherever we're needed most?”

Shaw finally looked away from Root's annoying face and stabbed at her food with her fork. “Fine.”

“Works for me,” Root agreed lightly.

Zoe turned the conversation to lighter topics for the rest of dinner and Shaw kept her thoughts to herself. There was no way in hell she was letting Root run off and get captured again. She couldn't spend her entire life rescuing her and Reese every five seconds. They both needed to learn to be more careful.

Halfway through some ridiculously rich chocolate cake that Zoe had brought out for dessert, the topic of the ball came up again.

“Does your tailor think she can get something acceptable together for us, or were we declared a lost cause?” Root asked Zoe. She seemed to have warmed up to her ever so slightly over the course of the meal. Zoe had some good stories about the elaborate schemes she'd pulled off in the past and Root had seemed genuinely fascinated.

“She's had to enlist some help, but she thinks she can make it work.”

“Really?” Shaw looked up from her plate. “What's she got in--” A foot running up the inside of her calf cut her sentence off.

“Shaw?” Zoe asked. “Are you alright?”

“Uh, yeah. Just...bit my tongue.” She kicked at Root and missed. “What is your tailor making for us?” She'd given the woman a couple strong suggestions, but she wasn't sure she'd paid any mind.

“She doesn't usually reveal her creations before they're done,” Zoe said, looking at her a little oddly still.

“Don't worry, Shaw--” A hand slid along the inside of Shaw's thigh under the table. “--I'm sure it will be...exquisite.” Fingers gripped Shaw's leg hard enough that she dropped her tiny dessert fork.

“You okay, Shaw?” Carter asked. “You look a little off.”

Shaw managed to connect her foot with Root's ankle this time and the hand on her leg retreated.

“Think I'm not used to all this rich food is all. I'm going to go lie down for a bit.” She pushed her chair back from the table and left with a polite nod to the others.

She made her way back up to her room, half-turned-on, half-pissed off and leaned against the wall by the door, waiting. Three minutes later when the door opened, Shaw pushed off the wall and grabbed the intruder by the throat, spinning them around and slamming them back into the wall.

Honestly Root was so damned predictable about some things that the whole ambush had been absurdly easy. Shaw's hand rested firmly on Root's throat, but she didn't squeeze hard enough to really do any damage. The surprise on Root's face was almost instantly replaced with something darker and more excited even as her hand came up to wrap around Shaw's wrist. But instead of trying to pry Shaw's hand away, she seemed to be encouraging her.

Testing a theory, Shaw relaxed her grip for a second before squeezing again, harder, and watched Root's face slacken with pleasure. Really she should have guessed Root would be into some friendly choking.

She finally released her completely and stepped back while Root slumped against the wall, catching her breath.

“Well, hello to you, too,” Root said when she recovered.

Shaw rolled her eyes. “You need to keep your hands to yourself.” She wasn't about to admit how much the whole thing had turned her on or how badly she wanted Root right that second. Root was smug enough without knowing that.

Root smirked. “Is that really what you want?”

 

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

Shaw didn't dignify that with an answer and instead grabbed Root by the hips and pressed her back more firmly into the wall before yanking her down by her shirt into a bruising kiss.

She briefly contemplated ripping Root's shirt open, but remembered in time that it was technically Zoe's shirt and they probably shouldn't destroy the clothes she'd given them. She settled for loosening the lacing down the front and pulling it open enough to tell that Root had neglected to wear anything under her shirt again (had she been planning this?). She pulled the gaping shirt tight against Root's skin so the leather laces pressed into one of her breasts, pale skin squeezed between dark leather laces.

“Guess someone really likes my new wardrobe,” Root murmured, her hands coming up to thread into Shaw's hair.

“I've got no complaints so far,” Shaw said before lowering her head to nip at Root's breast through the lacing. Probably best if Zoe never found out about any of this. She dropped her free hand down to work at the laces on Root's pants.

“I have to say, I really was very touched that you were _so_ insistent on making sure I would be safe tomorrow,” Root said, her voice a low drawl in Shaw's ear.

Shaw pulled her head back so she could focus on pulling Root's overly tight pants and underwear down her thighs. “You're an idiot, you know that?” An idiot who was extremely turned on now apparently. Root shifted to spread her legs as much as the pants still around her legs would let her so Shaw could explore more thoroughly.

“I've got a spirit watching my...watching my back, sweetie.”

Shaw grunted in approval when Root's breath hitched mid-sentence. She ran her fingers through the wet heat between Root's legs and pressed down firmly on her clit with her thumb, enjoying how it made Root's hips twitch.

“She couldn't save you last time. Sometimes you need another human to watch your back, too.” Her fingers rubbed rapid circles around Root's clit and she busied her other hand with squeezing and massaging one of Root's breasts through the laces of the shirt.

“I think you're underestimating Her, sweetie. And me.”

Shaw rolled her eyes because why was Root such an idiot and why were they even discussing this now? She slid one finger into Root slowly and was momentarily distracted by the feeling of Root, hot and tight around her. She needed a better angle, she decided, something where she could really leverage the full force of her arm to fuck Root senseless.

She pulled back enough to help Root get rid of the rest of her clothes and then backed her up across the room and pushed her down on the bed. Root's eyes were shining and her hair was fanned out around her on the bed in waves. Shaw crawled on the bed after her and bent down to kiss her even as her hand found its way back between Root's legs. She pushed in with two fingers this time, delighting in how Root's hips shifted to take her in deeper and one of her legs wrapped around Shaw.

“You. are. going. to. get. yourself. killed.” Shaw punctuated each word with a thrust of her fingers and Root moaned loudly in her ear. Shaw wasn't sure if that was agreement or if Root was just too far gone for a coherent response.

Root was so damned wet now and the look in her eyes was somewhere between wild and something else. Something softer but just as desperate.

“Can you take three?” Shaw thought she probably could, but she didn't want to risk hurting Root in a way she wouldn't like.

Root nodded frantically and Shaw pulled out enough to add a third finger and eased back in. Root's head fell back on the mattress and her eyes shut as she writhed under Shaw. She gave Root a minute to adjust before she resumed her rough pace, greatly enjoying how tight Root felt around her fingers now and the way her neck looked so long and elegant stretched back as her head dug into the mattress.

Root's fingers clawed at her back and Shaw gave into temptation and bent to bite down hard at the tendon in her neck, feeling the skin give a little under her teeth. Root's hips bucked wildly under her as she pressed herself into the pain, her breath coming out in hot pants near Shaw's ear. Some small part of Shaw's mind reminded her that Root probably shouldn't be sporting a giant bite mark on her neck tomorrow night (possibly too late to prevent that now) and she regretfully backed off and returned to kissing Root, swallowing her moans and biting her lip.

Root came suddenly, muscles fluttering around Shaw's fingers and her heel pressing into Shaw hard enough to bruise, and then collapsed back on the bed, breathing hard. Shaw sat next to her, looking down at her flushed face and chest and her sweaty hair. “You're going to get yourself killed,” she repeated to make sure Root hadn't missed it the first time. “And then who the hell is going to help Machina?”

Root recovered enough to prop herself up on her elbows and cocked her head to one side. “You're really worried.”

Shaw made a disgusted noise and climbed off the bed so she could pull her clothes off. Unfortunately, getting naked didn't seem to be enough of a distraction this time, because Root was still watching her speculatively.

“This mission tomorrow,” Shaw said, “it depends on both of us, on _all_ of us, working together. If you go running off alone--”

“Sameen.”

Shaw stopped, unsure what to do with the way Root was looking at her now, because it looked like Root had just come to some decision and for the life of her Shaw couldn't figure out what that could be.

“Come here.” Root stretched her hand out, inviting.

She wanted an assurance before they went and further. “And about tomorrow?”

“We'll deal with that when we get to it.”

Shaw just stared at her blankly, unwilling to accept that answer. Root huffed out an exasperated breath and sat up.

“Would it help if I promised not to go off on my own unless Machina thought it was completely reasonable?”

Shaw's eyes narrowed. “You mean she thought it was a terrible idea too and you still were going to do it?” Honestly, how could someone so clever be so damn stupid sometimes?

Root looked petulant. “Both of you worry too much. I can handle myself.”

“Being able to handle yourself doesn't mean you sometimes don't need backup anyway.”

A smile twitched on Root's lips. “Sometimes the two of you say almost the same thing at the exact same time. It's adorable.”

Shaw rolled her eyes and climbed back onto the bed. “If we're both saying the same thing, the least you can do is listen.” She flopped down on her back and grabbed Root by the hips to urge her to move on top of her. Root owed her big time for all this nonsense and she'd better make good on it.

Root settled on top of her, hands already roaming, and leaned down to whisper right in her ear. “I'm listening, Shaw.”

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

* * *

 

Shaw woke up in the middle of the night and sat up in bed, uncertain what had disturbed her. It took a few seconds for her to take in her surroundings and figure out what was wrong.

The heavy curtains over the window had been pushed to the side and there was a figure curled up on the wide ledge. Shaw relaxed a little and rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

“What the hell are you doing in my room?”

“Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you.” Root's voice was barely loud enough to carry across the room.

Shaw threw the covers back, resigned to the fact that she was awake for now, and got up and went over to the window. Root was leaning against one side of the window frame with her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms loosely looped around them.

“Why're you here?” Shaw asked again. Last she'd seen Root she'd been headed back to her own room for the night after they'd finally worn each other out.

Root turned to look out the window at the dark city. “It's really silly.”

Shaw bit back an irritated response. There was something in Root's tone that suggested it wasn't silly at all. “What's going on?” she asked as patiently as she could manage.

“It's too quiet here,” Root said. She glanced at Shaw's face before quickly hurrying on. “You'd think there'd be more noise in the city, but this neighborhood is dead at night. Out in the wilds there's always so much noise and even in the inn we stayed at last night there were people moving around and...and someone else breathing in the same room. It was just too quiet to sleep here.” She slumped back against the window. “I told you. Silly.”

Shaw thought of a number of different responses, from kicking Root out to inviting her back to bed with her. None felt exactly right though.

“You need to sleep,” she said finally. “So wherever you need to go for that to happen…. Just get some rest okay?”

Root nodded and leaned her forehead against the window pane to stare out at the city. “You should go back to sleep, Shaw.”

“Planning on it. Just make sure you do, too. We've got a busy day tomorrow.”

She went back to bed, but purposefully laid down all the way on the side as far from that window as she could get, leaving the other side of the huge bed empty, the invitation clear. Just in case. It wasn't like they hadn't slept in a much smaller bed together just the other night. Hell, they'd been sleeping next to each other at camp sites for weeks now, and while that might be different it didn't actually have to be a big deal. Hopefully.

She was mostly asleep again when she felt the bed shift slightly and heard the covers being rearranged on the other side. She nodded in approval, settled her head a little more firmly into her pillow, and let sleep claim her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is the fancy ball and everyone wearing fancy outfits.
> 
> I originally planned to have this be two separate fics with the first one ending a few chapters from now. There's definitely an 'end of part 1' coming up but I may just add an interlude chapter or something and put part 2 in the same fic. I may take a brief writing break at that point, too, based on work/life stuff piling up, but hopefully it is reasonably brief.


	13. The Ball

Since Root had to take off on some mysterious errand the next morning and Zoe was busy subtly threatening some nobleman in her sitting room, Shaw was left to her own devices. She dressed in her own clothes, not wanting to stand out in the fancier ones Zoe had stocked her wardrobe with, and headed to Carter's house to pick up Bear. Carter was out on duty of course, but Bear was practically scratching the door down and eager to escape.

It had been too long since it had been just her and Bear out on their own and while they couldn't easily go for a run inside the city, Shaw took them on a long walk through the city streets, partly for the exercise, but also to get a better feel for the mood in the capital. It was interesting to note where the most unrest was in the city--the richer areas were peaceful (though full of guards), the poorer areas were less calm, but it was the population who fell somewhere between those that had the most protesters. Business owners and workers who couldn't afford the new taxes, Shaw guessed.

There was a small group of guards keeping watch in front of a building that looked like it had been ransacked. Shaw recognized the store as one she'd bought supplies in last time she'd been in the city. It had been owned by a family who'd moved to the province from the mainland of the Empire if she remembered correctly. Apparently the anger at the Imperials wasn't only aimed at the ones in power.

She hadn't really meant to end up back in the neighborhood where she'd lived when she'd been studying at the university, but somehow she found herself there. The buildings seemed smaller than she remembered but otherwise it didn't look like much had changed. The only real difference was the atmosphere--the students at the university had always been prone to throwing themselves into whatever the current political debate of the month was, but the students she saw on the streets now were different. Angrier.

She wondered where she would be now if she'd stayed here to pursue a career in healing. She wasn't much interested in protests or mobs, but if fighting had actually broken out would she really have stayed out of the way?

Her feet led her to the north end of the city and the harbor. She'd loved coming here when she'd been studying to watch the ships docking and getting unloaded. The water beyond the harbor lake looked like it stretched for forever though she knew it was only a day's sail away from the other shore and the main body of Imperial territory.

There was a huge ship, clearly of Imperial make docked in the harbor that drew her eye. The emissary that they wanted Reese to kill had probably arrived on that thing. All the pieces were on the board already.

“Having a nice walk, Shaw?”

Shaw was a little disgusted with herself for letting Root sneak up on her like that. She put it down to being distracted by the ships.

“You following me?”

Root wasn't wearing any of Zoe's fancy wardrobe either, but she'd changed out of her usual travelling leathers into more casual clothing. If Shaw hadn't known better she might have mistaken her for just another resident of the city.

“I was actually in the area already. Had a little errand to take care of.”

“What sort of errand?”

Root just smiled. “Let's call it a backup plan.”

“Backup plan? You expecting things to go sideways tonight?”

“Not exactly.” Root turned away as if to leave. “We should get back to Zoe's house now.”

Shaw grabbed her arm to stop her. “Root. Talk. What backup plan?”

Root sighed but relented. “Whoever it is who has John wants him to kill the Imperial emissary. Whether or not he actually does that, there's a good chance someone will make a try to. The plan is for us to stop them, but if we fail, all this--” Root gestured at the city around them. “--is going to turn into chaos.”

Shaw hadn't thought through exactly what they were going to do after they recused Reese and destroyed the third anchor, but Root was right about the potential for disaster. If the city really blew up then they were better off getting as far away as possible and the best way to do that would be by water. She let go of Root's arm and followed her back into the city, while thinking things through.

“So you bought passage for us on a ship out of here?”

“You, me, John, and two others plus our horses and Bear.”

Must have been a damned big ship. “Two others? Carter and Zoe?”

Root shot a fond sideways glance at her. “I knew you wouldn't leave your friends, Sam.”

“Well, they might not want to leave.” She couldn't imagine Carter running and she figured Zoe had her own contingency plans.

“True, but they're accounted for if they do.”

It was uncharacteristically thoughtful of Root which probably meant it had been Machina's idea.

“Where's the boat headed? Not to the mainland of the Empire I hope.” It wouldn't be a good time to be a provincial in the heart of the Empire if things went to hell.

“No, around the coast to the west. We have passage all the way down the coast, but we can hop off whenever we want.”

“I'm a little surprised Machina doesn't want us to stay here, lead the revolution or something.”

Root chuckled. “You've got Her all wrong. She doesn't want to meddle in human conflicts, though She'd like to minimize the bloodshed if it's possible--it's why She wants us to keep the emissary alive. But if it comes to a war between humans, She's not going to pick sides. She'll take whatever course of action is most likely to prevent more violence.”

That lined up with what Shaw had seen back in Provincial Intelligence. Her missions had always seemed to be preventative. Kill one person, save another, prevent much larger conflicts. It had been one of the things she'd liked about how Provincial Intelligence operated, though now it sounded like that had mostly been because of Machina.

“Guess we'd better make really sure no one kills this asshole then.”

“Agreed.”

* * *

 

Root had put up with a lot of things over the years for various disguises she'd had to use, but one thing she'd never been able to get used to was having other people assist her in getting dressed. As it was she managed mostly on her own but had to put up with one of the tailor's hassled assistants arranging some type of lacy black adornment over one of her shoulders.

The dress was stunning she had to admit, made from luxurious maroon silk with intricate patterns picked out on it in fine gold thread. The top of it tied behind her neck to leave her shoulders bare as well as her back almost all the way down to her waist. It was lovely, but it left the ugly, mostly-healed arrow wound at her shoulder exposed which is why she was being forced to suffer the extra gauzy adornment to cover it.

Since her leather bracers would have stood out at the party, the tailor had supplied her with long, elegant black gloves that stretched halfway up her upper arms and hid the branching lightning scars from view.

After the dress was sorted out, two assistants came to fuss over her hair and makeup much to her continued annoyance. She definitely didn't need anyone else's help to make her hair look fantastic and she was rapidly reaching the end of her patience for dealing with annoying people in her personal space.

_~Would you like to hear an amusing story about Shaw's time in university? She once retaliated against one of the teachers for banning her from the library for a week. No one was permanently harmed, but the teacher's residence was filled with mildly toxic fumes for a short while. She was quite pleased with the results.~_

Root petulantly put down the long hair pin she'd been considering stabbing someone with and allowed herself to be bribed with stories of Shaw causing property damage.

She wondered if Shaw was getting the same treatment in her room and how many survivors there'd be if she was.

Once her hair had been deemed acceptable (and she had to admit it looked nice) and she had gotten rid of all the hovering assistants, she finally got to the important part of getting ready for the ball. The tailor hadn't even batted an eye when Root had asked her for certain cuts cleverly hidden in various places in the dress to allow her to access the knives she planned to be carrying.

Shaw entered her room as she was strapping a dagger to one thigh.

“Pants under a dress? Is that the newest fashion these days?”

Root let the skirt of her dress fall back down to hide the pants completely. “It'll make it a little easier to get ready to fight once everything starts happening.” She straightened up and turned to take in Shaw.

Shaw had opted for something more practical overall, but her pants were perfectly form fitting and made of a dark black velvet that looked very soft. The long black jacket she wore had thick cuffs and lapels and was covered in fine gold embroidered thread. Under that she wore a silken shirt that was the same maroon as Root's dress with ruffles at the throat, and to complete the outfit she had polished black leather boots that stretched up to her knees. She still had her hair pulled back as she always did, but a few strands on either side of her face hung free and had been curled perfectly.

_~Is there a reason you have stopped breathing? I believed that breathing was a thing humans needed to do?~_

Root exhaled slowly and tried to stop gaping. It was almost funny because if she'd had to choose the sexiest look on Shaw it would have undoubtedly been Shaw in the clothes she wore out on the trail, covered in blood and dirt and looking ready for a fight, but this new look was, well, _new_ and definitely a winner as well.

“Someone looks dashing,” she said when she'd gotten her breathing back under control. “How many fingers did you break when they did your hair?”

Shaw smirked. “None. I kicked them out and did it myself.” She paused and her face got a little more serious. “You, uh, you look good.”

Root beamed at her. “I know. And watch this.” She smoothed her hands down the sides of her dress and ended up with a dagger in either hand. “Very useful accessorizing, wouldn't you say?”

“Yeah, I've got a few hidden surprises myself.”

“You'll have to show me those later.”

Shaw chuckled. “Let's get through the night first. You ready to go?”

Root looked around the room one last time. Other than the weapons she'd kept with her none of her stuff was here anymore. “As ready as I'll ever be.”

“Then let's get this over with.”

Zoe had gone ahead of them to the ball in her own coach since they hadn't wanted to be seen arriving together so they had their own carriage to themselves. Root was supposed to be a noblewoman from one of the other Imperial lands, far enough away that no one should know better. Shaw was there as her guest which meant she didn't really need a specific story, though that hadn't stopped Root from inventing a few scandalous ones just in case.

“She keeping an eye on Reese?” Shaw asked as the dark city flashed by outside the windows.

_~John Reese will arrive at the ball shortly before you do.~_

“She says he's already on his way.”

_~There is something odd, though. The woman he is with is someone who vanishes from my sight quite often. I last saw her weeks ago when she entered the city and then she disappeared. What is even stranger is that at one point I believed her to be dead.~_

“Is she working with another spirit?” She must have been.

“Is who what now?” Shaw asked.

_~It is quite likely, but I do not think she is in charge.~_

“There's a woman that John is with,” Root explained quickly. “Machina has a hard time keeping an eye on her, possibly due to a spirit. What's her name?”

_~Kara Stanton. She was Reese's partner in the army.~_

“Does the name Kara Stanton mean anything to you?”

Shaw raised an eyebrow. “Should it?”

“She was John's partner in the army. I thought he might have mentioned her.”

“Never by name. He said their commanding officers set them up to kill each other and then sent in a whole squad to finish the job. He thought she'd probably ended up dead.”

“Apparently not.”

_~He does not seem very pleased with her company.~_

“John's people skills have failed him at last. Any idea who else she might be working with?”

_~Unclear. I will continue to watch for any further developments.~_

Root drummed her fingers on her leg. There were too many unknowns here and for the first time she had to worry about other people besides herself.

“You okay?”

Most of Shaw's face was hidden by the dark in the carriage, but Root heard something she thought might have been concern in her voice. She relaxed a little.

“I'm fine, but thank you. Just ready for things to get started.”

“Well, I don't think you have to wait much longer.” Shaw pointed at the window. “Because it looks like we've arrived.”

* * *

 

“Stop fidgeting, John.”

Reese's fingers froze where they were adjusting the unnecessarily lacy cuffs of his jacket again. He was pretty sure Kara had gotten him something with extra ruffles just to annoy him. And the jacket wasn't nearly as bad as the leggings and the ridiculous feathered hat. _And_ the godawful stiff lace collar. This was much worse torture than being stuck in his room had been.

“How'd you manage an invite to this anyway?” he asked as he followed Kara through the bright hallways of the palace. The palace was more of an enormous mansion than a real palace, and the party was taking place on most of the first floor. All the rooms were decorated and overflowing with guests in the most expensive outfits Reese had ever seen and there was music coming from a small quartet in a side room. He thought there was actually a ballroom around here somewhere but he hadn't seen it yet. Mostly he was looking for any sign of a familiar face.

“It's all about knowing the right people,” Kara said. “Now let's go get a look at the emissary.”

The name she'd been addressed by at the entrance to the palace had definitely been fake, but had given him no indication of who she was supposed to actually be. Was she just a noblewoman, or was she a representative of another interest? Who the hell was she working for?

Kara led him into the ballroom at last and he was momentarily blinded by the light of the hundreds of candles burning in the chandeliers. This room was also quite full though there was some space cleared for all the couples whirling around on the dance floor. At the far end of the room was a slightly raised dais where a group of people were seated. He recognized the Lord Governor among them, though he'd only seen her in person once before and at a distance, and the tall man in the gaudy white robes that were the height of Imperial fashion these days must have been the emissary. There were also a large number of guards nearby, far more than he'd expected.

“All the trouble in the city,” Kara explained when she saw where he was looking. “The Lord Governor is paranoid that someone will try something.”

“Can't imagine why she'd think that,” he muttered under his breath. He scanned the crowd, not only for Root and Shaw, but for someone else Machina had promised him would be here who he desperately needed to get a message to. His eyes fixed on one guard in particular who he hadn't expected to be here at all. Carter looked fantastic in her dress uniform, but he hadn't thought any of the city guard would be allowed in the palace for this. He glanced over at her as often as he dared, willing her to notice him. He didn't want to drag her into this mess, but if he could just walk near enough to her for a second….

“I think we should go get something to drink, don't you?” Kara said without looking away from the dais.

“Not time for the fun and games yet then?” He could feel the stiletto knife he had tucked away at his waist every time he took a step. It was awfully nice of Kara to let him go armed, but then she was so sure that she had him under her thumb that she didn't see him as a real threat, and she did need him to kill the emissary eventually.

Kara smiled. “Not quite yet, John, but don't worry, you'll get your chance soon enough.”

He already had some plans for how that was actually going to go down, though nothing too solid yet since he didn't know enough. He just needed time to find one of the others first.

The banquet had been laid out in the main hall, a long table covered in white cloth heaped with all sorts of food and drinks. He filled a glass of some type of pinkish liquid for himself from one of the small fountains, still searching the crowd for any of the others. They had to be here. Machina had been so sure.

Someone bumped into him, roughly, and the pink liquid spilled over, staining his white ruffles.

“Oh, how clumsy of me,” said a familiar voice, and suddenly Root was there mopping ineffectively at his sleeve. “Terribly sorry about that,” she continued. “You must let my man get it cleaned for you tomorrow, I insist.”

“Don't worry about it,” he managed to say, hoping he'd kept the flash of recognition off his face as Kara was hovering nearby, displeasure written all over her face. It occurred to him that she might not know what Root looked like other than by vague descriptions and so probably hadn't recognized her.

Root flashed a bizarre wink at him and then vanished into the crowd again. She'd looked so different in the elegant dress with her hair done up all nice that he wondered if he'd have recognized her without hearing her voice first or if his eyes would have just passed over her as another noble in the crowd. Was Shaw wearing a dress as well?

“Sorry about the fancy jacket,” he said as he rejoined Kara.

“Not important, just make sure you stay close to me and don't try anything or you know what will happen.”

“Of course.” He followed her away from the table, feeling much better now that the little slip of paper he'd carefully hidden in his sleeve was in Root's hands.

* * *

 

“He looked okay to me,” Shaw said when Root returned to her side. “Well, other than the tights. What was he thinking? And why hasn't he just bashed this Kara Stanton over the head and stashed her in a corner somewhere?”

“This might have something to do with it.” Root handed over a folded sheet of paper.

Shaw moved into a slightly more discreet alcove before she looked at it. It was a list of names, a few of them quite familiar to Shaw. At the bottom John had scrawled 'for Zoe, relocate.’

“These are people Reese and I saved based on the names Machina gave us. All the ones who live in the city. I'm betting Kara threatened to kill them and that's why Reese is playing along for now.” Shaw folded the paper up again and tucked it in her pocket. “She must know him pretty well to know exactly what to threaten him with.”

“He's too nice for his own good.”

“Maybe so.” Shaw figured Reese had taken the best course of action given his choices. She wondered if any threat would have worked against Root in similar circumstances. Maybe if there'd been a real way to threaten Machina. “We need to get this to Zoe immediately.”

“Can she really protect all those people?” Root asked doubtfully.

“She can make them vanish into the middle of nowhere. Probably the best we can ask for.” Zoe's name had been on that list, too, as had both of theirs.

“She know where Zoe is.”

Shaw stayed close as Root led her through the crowd. If this was really such an exclusive party then why the hell were all these people here?

“This way, sweetie.” Root's fingers wrapped around Shaw's wrist to guide her through the crowd.

Shaw was relieved to find that the ballroom was their destination. With the Imperial emissary on the dais there it meant that this was where all the action was going to go down and where they needed to be to stop it.

Zoe was elegantly reclined on a small velvet couch on the end of the room furthest from the dais. She was mid-conversation with two men whose outfits were almost as foppish as the getup that Reese had on (Shaw really hoped he hadn't chosen that on his own). When Zoe saw them approach, she quickly ended the discussion and politely but firmly dismissed the men.

“You still swapping secrets and calling in favors even at a party?” Shaw asked as they joined her.

“You make it sound as if this ball was some sort of vacation rather than a business opportunity. Everyone who's anyone is here tonight and half of them are at each other's throats.”

“Well, if they all kill each other it might fix a lot of problems,” Root said with a grin Shaw could only describe as bloodthirsty. And hot.

“Root bumped into Reese,” Shaw said quickly. “He gave her this and you really need to see it.” She handed the paper over to Zoe.

Zoe studied it in silence for a few seconds.

“This is a lot of people. How fast would I need to get them out of the city?”

“Immediately,” Root said. “Tonight. This paper means John isn't going along with Kara's plan and the minute she knows that everyone on here will be in danger.”

“I guess I'd better go see what I can do then.” Zoe stood up and tucked the paper away.

“Your name is on there, too,” Shaw pointed out.

“I think they won't find me nearly as easy a target as they think.” Zoe made to move past them, but Shaw stepped in her way. Whoever Kara worked for was undoubtedly very dangerous.

“Just get out of town for a bit? City is likely to turn into a war zone soon anyway.”

“Which is exactly why I'm not leaving. If there will ever be a time to call in all my favors and use any influence I have to really make a difference, it'll be then.”

Shaw saw from Zoe's eyes that she wasn't going to be swayed on this, and anyway this was Zoe, she definitely had at least three backup plans to get herself out of trouble. She stepped aside to let her pass.

“Good luck with the rest of the evening, and tell John I said hi.”

Shaw waited until Zoe had vanished into the crowd before sitting on the empty couch. They'd done the best they could for the people Kara was using as leverage over Reese, now all they could do was wait until it was time to act. Root sat down next to her a second later, arranging the skirts of her dress around herself. It really was a very nice dress, Shaw thought, especially the way it provided such a great view of Root's neck and shoulders and collarbones and…. It was just a nice dress.

“That's the emissary over there.” Root nodded at the dais. “I've counted five people guarding him.” She was sitting much closer than was necessary based on the size of the couch. Shaw decided that maybe it would be okay to not point that out.

“Machina know when they're going to make their move?”

They'd agreed that the closer to the assassination attempt they could rescue Reese, the better since it would give Kara less time to make a backup plan.

“Not exactly, but not in the next fifteen minutes or so probably.”

“Good, I want to get a closer look at that dais.”

Root leaned into her more with a lazy smile. “Why Sameen, is this your way of asking me for a dance?”

“What? No!”

“The dance floor goes right up to the dais so it _would_ be the least conspicuous way to get closer.”

Root wasn't wrong about that and it wasn't like dancing with her would be bad or anything and it was clearly just to help with their mission. Shaw sighed, stood up, and offered Root a hand up.

“Let's do this then.”

The brief flash of surprise on Root's face was replaced with a triumphant grin. She took Shaw's hand to get up and then immediately switched to looping her arm through Shaw's to lead them to the dance floor.

It had been a few years since Shaw had last had to dance--some political assassination mission in the western province--but she found that her feet seemed to remember the basics, and, after a few seconds of slowly moving in step with Root, she also remembered she'd always sort of enjoyed dancing.

“Where'd you learn to dance?” she asked as she moved them down the dance floor towards the dais. Root's back was warm under her hand.

“I killed a diplomat in the Imperial capital. That was at a ball, too, actually. I learned to dance so I could blend in more easily, and it came in handy a few other times.”

“In the Imperial capital?” That rung a bell for some reason. “Wait, was that the guy who they found hanging upside down from the chandelier in the middle of the party?” The incident had set off a three year war that had cost the Empire a pretty penny. The assassin had never been found. “That was you?”

Root looked far too pleased with herself. “That was a long time ago. I was still sloppy back then, but at least I had style.”

“Is that what you did before Machina? Assassinations?” It would make a lot of sense.

Root's smile didn't budge an inch. “What can I say? It paid well.”

Certainly explained all the money she had in the bank. “And probably never got boring.”

“Not as exciting as the last few weeks, but it definitely wasn't ever dull.”

They were near the far end of the room now and Shaw finally got a close look at the Imperial emissary all this fuss was about. He was tall and skinny with Imperial features and he looked fairly drunk. Typical.

“Now we just have to wait for someone to kill the bastard,” she said.

“At least waiting won't be boring.”

Shaw glanced back up at Root--she certainly looked like she was having a good time following Shaw through the steps of the dance, pressed a little too close to be completely proper. Root's hand was warm in hers and her bare back was smooth under Shaw's other hand. All things considered, there were much worse ways to pass time waiting for an attempted assassination to take place.

* * *

 

“Time to move, John.”

Reese straightened the stupid hat on his head again and adjusted his collar. The stiff white lace atrocity was making his neck hurt.

“Let's get this over with then.”

Kara led him back to the ballroom. He looked around once more for any familiar faces and his eyes came to rest on two figures on the dance floor. Root and Shaw looked fantastic as they whirled across the floor, like they belonged together. He wondered what they'd been through since he'd let seen them.

He wondered, somewhat less charitably, if they'd been getting it on the whole time he'd been locked up.

Kara was on the move and he hurried to follow her up towards the dais. He still wasn't sure exactly how she planned to get access to meet the emissary. All he knew was that he was supposed to stab this guy in the middle of a room full of armed guards and that somehow, according to Kara, it would all work out okay and he wouldn't immediately be killed.

Good thing he had no intention of stabbing anyone.

The Lord Governor wasn't on the dais when they approached which he figured was probably for the best. Maybe she was even behind this whole thing.

One of the guards standing by the two steps up to the dais saluted when they approached.

“Duchess Hargrave, an honor, your grace.”

How the hell did some guard recognize Kara as someone who she definitely wasn't? Reese noted it down as another mystery to be solved.

“The emissary will of course wish to speak to you, your grace,” the guard continued. He stepped to one side to motion them past with a bow and a wave of his hand.

There were a few other nobles on the dais, most of whom Reese didn't recognize. He thought he might have seen a few of them before, perhaps back on missions he'd worked with Kara--the woman in blue was from the western province perhaps and the old man in black from the southern. The nobility of all the provinces were here under one roof tonight to entertain the Imperials.

The emissary rose from his seat when Kara approached, a little shakily as if he'd had too much to drink. Reese only half paid attention to whatever Kara said to him and instead used the opportunity to glance back at the room behind him. Root and Shaw had left the dance floor and were pushing their way through the crowd towards him. He saw several people turn to scold Shaw indignantly for her liberal use of her elbows to push her way through, but one look at Root's terrifying grin made most of them back off.

He'd really missed them. Even Root.

“And this is my escort for the evening,” Kara said, pulling him forwards. “John Reese, a distinguished officer in the army.”

He froze for a second, thrown by the fact she'd used his actual name, but of course if she really planned to have blame fall on him then she needed to make sure his connection to the northern province was solidly established.

“Your lordship,” he said with a slight bow. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance and I really hope you won't hold this against me.”

He used the moment of confusion that followed to make his move. He shoved Kara as hard as he could back towards the other nobles on the dais and stepped next to the emissary and raised his barrier. Tables full of enticing foods and wines went flying as he expanded the barrier wide enough to protect both himself and the emissary.

“Sorry about this, you lordship, but my lovely companion really wants you dead for some reason.”

The emissary was gaping at him, mouth opening and shutting in his drunken confusion. Reese didn't have any time to deal with him, though, because that was when the room descended into complete chaos.

* * *

 

Shaw saw the destructive path of Reese's barrier knocking tables over as she reached the bottom stair of the dais. The guards all turned to see what the commotion was which made it easy for her to push past them and go straight for her target.

Kara Stanton was back on her feet, and, instead of turning to fight Reese, turned directly towards Shaw, like she knew she was there. She smiled in a way that almost reminded Shaw of Root and then raised her hand.

Shaw dodged and heard whoever had been unlucky enough to be standing behind her fall over with a shriek of pain. She heard the crackling sound of Root's blessing to the side, no doubt dealing with all the guards.

There was a loud crash and a rush of cold air swept through the room blowing out most of the candles and plunging the room into partial darkness. The windows were all blown in and glass flew through the air. There was a crumbling and grinding sound as large portions of the floor burst up into haphazard walls around the edges of the room to prevent the glass from reaching the guests. Good to know that Carter was using her blessing to help keep this from escalating further.

But even with the protective walls, people were running and screaming and the guards in the room didn't seem to know where to turn.

“Well, it's a real party now,” Kara said as she raised her hand to attack again.

Machina had filled them in a little about Kara's blessing before they'd left--she could use the power of her blessing almost like knives, letting her slice at people from a distance. It was dangerous, but probably something Shaw could have easily handled unless she was somehow much stronger now like Martine had been. Shaw was about to find out if that theory was correct.

There wasn't much room for Shaw to dodge on the dais. There were still confused nobility trying to get away, and Reese behind his barrier to one side (trying to drag the emissary away, she noticed). She dodged to the left and half-fell over a table that had been knocked over. She shifted her weight as she fell and recovered, only needing to put one palm down on the ground before flowing back to her feet. Her arm felt weird, wet, and a glance down showed her that her sleeve was soaked with blood. Annoying, but not a serious injury from the feel of it.

Kara slashed the air in front of her with her hand and Shaw dropped down to dodge this time before springing back to her feet and lunging forwards at Kara with the small knife she'd pulled from under her coat. Kara twisted to the side, but Shaw's knife still scored a cut across her side.

“Good to see John replaced me with someone decently talented,” she said, backing away a few steps. “Even if you weren't worthy of a blessing.”

Shaw pulled her favorite long knife out from the sheath at her back. “Anything someone found you worthy of is something I won't miss.”

“Whatever you have to tell yourself, Shaw.”

And then Kara backed up and hopped over the railing of the dais and vanished into the crowd.

Shaw cursed but didn't go after her. There were more important matters to deal with first. She turned to find that most of the guards in the palace had decided to show up and were in various stages of charging the dais. At the foot of the stairs stood Root, her body practically crackling with her blessing. Her fancy gloves were in tatters around her arms and the red scars on her skin seemed to glow under the lightning she held in her hands.

“Shaw, I need to get him out of here!” Reese yelled from behind her. He was holding the struggling emissary and trying to push his way off the dais. There was a door near the wall that must have been his goal but there were still several guards trying to break through his barrier and he had his hands full. Literally.

“Go. I can hold them back.” Root sounded very sure of herself, but Shaw thought back to the last time she'd said that and Root had been captured. Of course Root wasn't drugged this time and so far no guards had made it close to her, but what it they brought in archers or guards with stronger blessings?

“Shaw, go. Reese needs your help now. I'll be right behind you.”

There were no good options here. “You'd better be.” She took one last look at Root and ran to help Reese.

The guards attacking him were focused on their task didn't realize there was another threat until it was far too late. As the last one fell, Reese made a dash for the door, dragging the struggling emissary behind him. Shaw followed, protecting their backs until they all were through the door.

There was a hallway on this side, and Reese kicked open the first door they came to and manhandled his captive inside. Shaw closed the door once she was in and threw the bolt on it. She needed to go back for Root, but she needed to make sure they were actually safe here first.

“Sorry about that, your lordship,” Reese said as he dropped the ruffled emissary into a chair. “But trust me, we just saved your life.”

“Saved my life? You attacked me!”

“The woman I was with, Duchess, uh, whatever, is actually a woman named Kara Stanton who was trying to kill you to start a war.”

“But why...why would anyone want to start...a war?” The emissary's voice was a little slurred and Shaw wondered just how much he'd had to drink.

“I really wish I knew,” said Reese and then shot Shaw a look that she took to mean that he at least had a theory.

The door handle rattled and both of them were armed and facing it in under a second.

“Shaw? Reese? You in there?”

Shaw relaxed and went to open the door and let Carter in.

“What the hell happened out there?” Carter asked as she entered. “The windows were blown in from the outside, so someone with a strong blessing was in the courtyard but no one has been spotted.”

The emissary looked up when she came in. “Oh thank heavens. Captain, these people are claiming there was going to be an attempt on my life.”

“That's correct, your lordship. My guards are trying to track down the people responsible, and these two just saved your life.”

Not just the two of them, which brought up another good question. “Did you see Root on your way here?”

Carter got a weird look on her face. “Yeah, she's certainly something isn't she? Was holding back a whole room full of palace guards when I passed her with that crazy power of hers, but she somehow managed to avoid hitting me while all that was going on.”

Machina's intervention, Shaw figured, though maybe Root would actually avoid hitting one of Shaw's friends even if she personally didn't care for them.

“I need to get back to her.” Root was good, but she couldn't keep that up for forever. “Can you two keep things under control here?”

Carter shook her head. “Things are getting out of hand out there, not just in the palace, but in the city as well. Looks like all the tension on the streets finally broke and there's fighting going on. I need to get back to my guards.”

“I can keep him safe until everything calms down,” Reese assured her.

Footsteps pounded down the hall outside and they all froze until they'd passed (even the emissary for some reason though Shaw thought he possibly was too drunk to really understand what was going on).

“I don't think it's safe to leave him with one person yet,” she said when the footsteps faded. Her instincts were screaming at her to go after Root, but she didn't want to abandon Reese and risk both him and the chance the province would end up at war with the Empire.

“I have to get back out there,” said Carter. “I'll be back as soon as I can. You two stay safe.”

“Carter, wait.” Shaw moved away from the emissary and lowered her voice. “You know we have that way out of the city I told you about.” They'd moved their horses and gear down near the docks right before the ball in case they needed to escape.

“I know, but like I told you, I'm not leaving. This is my city and I'll be damned if I run away and let it rip itself apart.”

“Yeah, I figured, but I had to offer.”

“Thanks for that, Shaw. You take care of yourself if I don't see you later.” Carter looked up. “You doing okay, John?”

“Finally someone asks,” Reese grumbled. “Not like I've been captured for days or anything.”

“I'll take that as a yes.” Carter smiled, turned to go again, and then turned back. “Listen, if I don't see you two tomorrow, there's a place we can meet up later. Old friend of ours retired to the country, but I have a standing invitation to drop in some time and I could find you there.”

Shaw had no clue what she was talking about, but Reese seemed to. “That's a good idea. We'll see you tomorrow or we'll see you there in a few weeks.”

Carter gave each of them a nod. “See you two later.”

They both turned back to look at the emissary after Carter left, but he was staring blankly at a wall. Maybe in shock.

“So, _are_ you okay?” Shaw asked Reese after an awkward quiet moment.

“I'm fine. I was mostly bored. I'm more worried about whoever it is Kara actually works for because I don't think it's the army or Provincial Intelligence and they're clearly looking to start a war. Don't suppose Mach--, uh, Root knows?”

“She hasn't been able to get a look at them.”

“I have a theory and that unfortunately lines up with it.” Reese's eyes flicked to the emissary and away again. “I'll fill you in later.”

Shaw nodded and looked back at the emissary instead of at Reese. It was...good to know that Reese was okay and to have him back here. She wasn't quite comfortable with putting that into words.

She cleared her throat. “You, uh…. You look fucking ridiculous. What's with the tights and collar? And the dumbass hat?”

A ghost of a smile passed across Reese's face before he looked down at his own outfit and cringed. “Kara has a lot to answer for.”

“I don't feel very well at all, I'm afraid.” The emissary was rocking back and forth in his chair a bit and his skin was pale.

“You've had a lot to drink and you're probably in shock. It'll pass.”

Reese shot her a look. “Do you understand what happened here tonight, you lordship? Someone is trying really hard to start a war and get a lot of people killed, but you have the power to prevent it. You can tell the Emperor what really happened here.”

“What really happened here…. I'm still not sure exactly what happened…. Maybe after a nap. Definitely don't want a war.” He trailed off again.

Shaw turned her attention back to the door. Why hadn't Kara Stanton shown up again if she was so eager to kill this guy? Or Martine if she was somehow involved as well?

“Did you get my message to, uh, to the recipient?” Reese asked.

Shaw wasn't sure the emissary was in any state to remember a name right now, but she appreciated Reese's caution. “Yeah, she's handling it.”

“Good, that's some--”

He was cut off by the emissary lurching forwards in his chair and letting out a horrible, choked gurgling noise. He clutched at his throat and spit foamed at his mouth.

“Shit, he's been poisoned.” Shaw hurried over to him even though she already knew it was too late. It must have been a slow-acting poison, one that had been slipped in his drink before this even started. She felt like an idiot for not realizing it sooner. Why poison someone they meant to have Reese kill?

She knelt down in front of the dying man, watching his face twist in agony. There wasn't a damn thing she could do now, not even if she'd had her full healing kit with her. It was so frustrating because if it had been her she could have forced the poison out of her own veins, but her powers had always been internal, cut off from ever reaching out to or helping anyone else.

The emissary stopped choking and slouched over in his chair, face still. Shaw got back up.

“Why?” she asked the room.

“They must really have wanted him dead.”

“If they could have just poisoned him then why did they need you? Why send Kara in at all? Why did we need to be here?”

Reese threw his stupid hat across the room in disgust. “Because now it looks like we did it and the Empire blames the province and gets us out of the way all at once.”

“Gets us out of the way….” A horrible suspicion ran down Shaw's spine like ice. “Kara was getting us out of the way because she had something else to look into. Tonight was about more than just the emissary, the final anchor is in the basements below the palace.”

“The anchor? It's here?”

This had all been a very, very elaborately set up plan and they'd played into it perfectly. Which meant…. “Shit. Root.”

Shaw ran out of the room, not waiting to see if Reese followed her.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'd been doing pretty good about staying a chapter ahead in terms of writing until now, so the next chapter isn't finished yet. hopefully should have it done by next sunday but it might be a little late. next chapter also will be the last part of part 1 i think. it might get split into two depending on what makes sense.
> 
> [Here's some wonderful art](https://themaarika.tumblr.com/post/183318037968/fancy-shoot-from-machina) of shoot dressed up all fancy that themaarika did!


	14. Silence

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter of part 1. 
> 
> themaarika has done two really awesome pieces of art for this that i linked in their respective chapters, but here's the links to both so you can check them out:
> 
> [muddy shaw and bear](https://themaarika.tumblr.com/post/183145991068/bear-and-shaw-from-machina)  
> [fancy shoot at the party](https://themaarika.tumblr.com/post/183318037968/fancy-shoot-from-machina)

Root ducked into an alcove behind a large marble statue of some long-dead noble. It wasn't the greatest hiding place ever but the five guards who'd been chasing her ran right past without stopping.

_~You are safe to move now.~_

She squeezed back out and hurried down the hallway in bare feet. The shoes she'd had for the ball had been very fancy, but hadn't been suited to running away. Getting out of the ballroom hadn't been easy when she'd had the attention of all the guards fixed on her, but she'd managed to blind everyone in the room with a flash of lightning for a few seconds and it had been enough to give her a head start. She'd told Shaw she'd wait for her, but they were running out of time. The city outside was in chaos but the guards in the palace were starting to regroup which meant that someone might think to send extra bodies to guard the basements below the palace. She had to get in before that happened, and Machina had agreed with her.

The staircase down to the basements was only guarded by two men when Root got there and they both fell from a single burst of her power. She looked behind the stairs to pull out a small bag that had been stashed there. Carter had come through for her. Maybe Shaw wasn't wrong to place her trust in her after all.

She pulled her dress off over her head and changed into the simple shirt she'd packed in the bag, slipped on some shoes, and strapped on the rest of the weapons she'd smuggled in. She briefly considered her discarded dress but instead folded it up as best she could and stuffed it into the bag. It would get very wrinkled, but maybe it would be salvageable. Shaw had seemed to really like it and Root didn't want to deprive Shaw of the opportunity of taking it off of her herself. Maybe it could be a fun reward for both of them if this night went well.

The stairs led down to the top most level of basements, mostly storage and wine cellars, but the hidden door behind the staircase revealed another narrow flight down.

_~I cannot see the place where the third anchor is and there are several other suspect areas along the way. Be careful.~_

“If I'm not, Shaw will scold me.”

_~Would that actually deter you or would it just encourage you?~_

Root smiled as she hurried down the stairs. Machina seemed to have picked up exasperation and possibly sarcasm.

The bottom of the stairs let out into a room cut out of yellowish stone. There were two hallways branching off from the room and no marks or signs to indicate which way to go. This was the beginning of the maze of tunnels then.

“Which way am I headed?”

_~Left to start with.~_

The hall curved away and the original room was soon lost from sight. The walls remained bare and, when she reached the first side passage branching off, there were still no signs or indicators of any sort.

_~Stay in the main passage for now.~_

“Should I leave some type of mark behind for Shaw and John?” She knew they'd follow her once they finished their part of the mission.

_~It might also alert any enemies following you.~_

Root debated if it was worth the risk and ended up not leaving anything behind. The halls were so plain and bare that any mark of any sort would have stood out here to anyone.

She was once again extremely grateful that Machina was sending the ambient sounds of the area directly to her to make up for her lost hearing. Down here in the twisting tunnels figuring out the direction sounds came from would have been hard enough already and basically impossible with only one working ear. And earlier, at the ball, She'd helped Root to separate individual voices and noises from the flat roar of the crowd. Their system still wasn't perfect, but it had come a long ways and Root couldn't imagine getting by without it anymore.

_~Turn here.~_

It was the third side hall she'd come to and the walls looked much the same as the ones in the hall she'd just left. She was really glad she had Machina guiding her through this maze, though she was wondering why she hadn't seen any guards down here at all. Surely they didn't rely on only the maze to keep people out?

She got part of her answer when Machina called her to a sudden halt.

_~The stone on the floor in front of you is a trap. There are arrows in the walls that will be released if you step on it.~_

“How charming.” She carefully stepped over it and then dropped a scrap of the remains of her gloves on top of it. Maybe it would mark her path, but she didn't wasn't to risk Shaw getting shot full of arrows.

Machina had her turn twice more before she came to a solid wood door in the wall of one of the passages.

_~I think it is inside here.~_

“Any idea how I should get in?” She had lockpicks but she wouldn't put it past whoever had built this place to have some sort of elaborate puzzle she needed to solve to open it.

_~Picking the lock is the best way, but be cautious. I believe a needle has been set to release and prick anyone attempting to manipulate the lock. I presume it is poisoned.~_

“It's almost like they don't want visitors.”

She stuck a metal pick into the lock on the door, careful to angle her hand to the side so the needle shot out past her. Once that was out of the way it was only a matter of picking the fairly uncomplicated lock.

The heavy door swung open to reveal a mostly bare room. The only thing in the room was a raised stone platform in the middle with an enormous hunk of crystal on it. Someone must have decided the anchor under the Lord Governor's palace needed to be more impressive.

Root entered the room and shut the door behind her. She took her time doing a full inspection of every inch of the space before she looked over the crystal.

“This is too easy.”

_~It is very hard to believe they would leave the last anchor this poorly guarded even with everything unfolding upstairs.~_

“Are there any places near here that you can't see?”

_~It does not exactly work that way. It's more like an area that appears normal but anything or anyone who goes into it vanishes as long as they are inside.~_

“Meaning there could be a small army hidden down here and you wouldn't know.”

_~I would only know if I had seen them vanish, and sometimes I do not. There is so much to keep track of at once, but I try.~_

Root’s instinct was to attempt to destroy the anchor before anyone had a chance to find her, but it was a delicate process that required her full attention which meant if someone snuck up on her a lot of bad things could happen

“How are Shaw and John doing?” Because as much as she hated to admit it, she could use someone here to watch her back. Machina could warn her, but She couldn't fight off an intruder.

_~They are talking with Captain Carter at the moment. The emissary is safe with them for now but they cannot come help you immediately.~_

“I guess it's just us then.”

After her experience with the last anchor she was inclined to be even more cautious with this one. Provincial Intelligence would have had plenty of time to set up all sorts of nasty traps before she got here. She started out by tossing a tiny pebble at the stone to see if there was any reaction. When there was none, she got a little closer and gingerly touched the crystal for a split second with the tip of one finger.

The next test was where things would get more dangerous. She stepped back again and reached out with her blessing this time, just the tiniest thread of power they she could manage. The reaction was instantaneous--a jolt of electricity much stronger then the one she'd used rebounded on her. It _hurt_ , but even more importantly it broke her concentration.

_~Be cautious. That was a much stronger reaction than the one you saw at the second anchor.~_

“So I noticed.” The question here was whether she should dive right in and try to push past the pain long enough to disable the trap, or if she should keep probing it as lightly as possible. The latter was safer, but would take far more time. “Can you do that thing where you help make my pain go away?”

_~I lessen the amount of pain you feel, but the damage done does not change. It would be dangerous to do so while you are actively being hurt like this. You would be unable to tell how much damage you were actually taking.~_

“I know, but I don't think we have a better option if we want this done fast and it'll be harder to concentrate without your help.”

_~Very well. Shall we begin?~_

The blessing that had been set on the crystal as a shield was much stronger than the previous one, but not more sophisticated. Root examined it in passing as she ran a tendril of her blessing over the crystal, desperately searching for the point from which to unlock it. Even with Machina dulling the pain, she could still feel far too much of it. It was like fire flooding through her veins, burning her up from the inside out. The harder she looked for the weak point, the worse the pain got.

Fortunately, whoever it was they had making these little trap anchors wasn't very subtle. The point where the trap anchor had been tied off quickly became clear and she deftly picked apart the knot of power and let it twist and fall away.

The top layer of anchors disintegrated and the power that had been holding it in place snapped back and hit her, hard. She staggered back a few steps and then leaned forwards to grab the edge of the stone table to steady herself. Her whole body ached like she'd thrown herself off a cliff. There was a familiar taste in her mouth and when she raised her hand to her face her fingers came away stained with blood.

It was only a nose bleed, but it was the first time she'd ever had an anchor blessing snapping back do physical damage to her.

_~Are you alright?~_

“Nothing I can't handle.”

_~Maybe you should wait for the others before you attempt to unlock the anchor.~_

“Do we have time for that?”

_~I am...unsure. I would have thought someone would have shown up by now. There is something strange going on here.~_

“All the more reason to get this done as quickly as possible before Martine or Kara shows up.”

_~Perhaps. I cannot see either of them right now. Also something has happened to the emissary. There are too many variables here right now.~_

The emissary. That meant--

“Is Shaw okay?” She thought she could get back up to the ground floor in three minutes if she ran. She was aware that Machina was still shielding her from a lot of the pain she was in and that maybe running off like that wasn't the best idea, but if Shaw needed her help….

_~Shaw is fine. She is on her way to find you now and Reese is right behind her.~_

Root relaxed. “Okay, I'll get started on this then. They'll be here by time I finish.”

_~Perhaps we should wait.~_

“The longer we wait the harder it will be for all of us to get out of here safely.”

Machina didn't respond and Root took that as permission. She stepped up to the stone platform and carefully wrapped her hands around the crystal. The anchor embedded in it was no different from the previous two she'd seen. From what little she'd found out over the years, Aquino or someone on his team were the most likely people to have created these original anchors. If that were true then with all of them dead there'd have been no way for anyone the alter the base anchor, so instead they'd laid those defensive anchors on top of it to try and prevent anyone from tampering with them.

Back at the second anchor it had seemed like they were trying to get that girl, Claire, to learn how to make anchors that could serve a similar purpose. Fortunately she must not have figured it out in time the remake any of the ones they'd destroyed, and once this last one was gone no one would be able to imprison Her again. It wasn't very hard to find the point where the anchor was tied off this time. She had a pretty good feel for how Aquino or whoever it was constructed their anchors and this one was much the same as the last two.

“Should only be another second.” Her stomach fluttered with anticipation. Machina would be free--finally and completely--and together they could do anything. Whatever problems had happened with the emissary tonight wouldn't matter because She would tell Root what to do from now on. Nothing else mattered.

_~Please be careful.~_

Root basked in the warmth of Her concern for a split second before returning to the task at hand. She prodded gently with her blessing and then skillfully twisted the weak point of the anchor and felt it start to crumble away beneath her fingers.

The rebound from it hit her like a punch to the gut and she fell over and landed on her ass on the floor. Everything hurt now, much worse than it had seconds before and she realized Machina must no longer be masking her pain.

“Where are you?” Her voice sounded a little desperate and also odd and she realized the sound filtering that Machina had been helping her with was gone again.

Her head spun, and her whole body ached, and black spots swam in her vision much like the first time she'd destroyed an anchor. She couldn't afford to pass out now. She tried to reach out and grab the edge of the platform to pull herself up, but jerked back at the sharp pain in her palms. Both her hands were covered in cuts, thin shards of the destroyed crystal stuck in her skin. She gritted her teeth and tried again to pull herself up, but the black spots grew and spread and the world tilted sideways and she collapsed to the floor.

The last thing she heard was the sound of a woman's voice coming from nearby. Not Shaw, she realized, but she was unconscious before she could figure out who it was.

* * *

 

“Go find Root, I'll catch up in a second.”

Reese watched in confusion as Shaw vanished down a hall. A second ago he didn't think any power in the universe could have kept her from getting to Root and now she was just taking off? She must have seen something.

But he took her at her word and rushed to the stairwell down to the basement she'd told him about. His scratchy collar and stupid hat got discarded onto a statue along the way. He was a little sorry he wasn't going to get a chance to burn them.

The hidden staircase in the basement was easy to find since someone had conveniently left the door open. He wondered if that had been Root or if someone had followed her down. (That was, assuming she'd even come down here, but where else would she be?)

There were two hallways leading off the room at the bottom and absolutely no indication of which Root had taken. Either she hadn't left a trail or someone else had removed it. He stood there, uncertain what to do next, until the air in front of one hallway shimmered slightly for a brief second. It looked a lot like the barriers Machina had used over the entrance to the cave they'd stayed in while Root was hurt.

“Thanks.” He felt a little silly talking to thin air.

He debated for a second but then ended up scratching a mark into the floor. Maybe Machina would be able to guide Shaw the same way, but maybe she wouldn't. She did a good job of guiding him through the seemingly endless and identical hallways with little shimmers in the air, but he thought he might have stepped right on the trap on the floor if there hadn't been a piece of cloth on it that caught his eye.

Root. She must have left this there to warn them. Or to warn Shaw anyway.

He slowed down when he heard noise ahead. There was a soft thump and the sound of footsteps across the stone floor.

“Almost too easy.”

He recognized that voice.

When he rounded the last corner he saw Kara standing right outside an open door, a nasty grin on her face.

He didn't let himself stop to think, but raised his shield and charged forwards at her. She turned, startled, and then his shield slammed into her and she went flying down the hallway. He waited half a second to see if she'd get up and, when there was no movement, he looked into the room she'd been in front of. Root was lying in a heap on the floor not moving.

He risked one last look back at Kara before hurrying in to crouch down next to Root. Relief washed over him when he saw she was still breathing and he found a pulse under his fingers at her throat. As far as he could tell the only real injuries were a bloody nose and her hands which were covered in tiny cuts, some still with shards of something in them. Crystal, he realized as he took in the rest of the room. The last anchor must have been a crystal. Well, it was definitely destroyed now, so mission accomplished? Was Machina free?

“Didn't think I'd be seeing you again tonight, John.”

He turned around to find Kara in the doorway, wiping blood off her mouth.

“If you'd been smart, you would have left when you had the chance.”

He stood up slowly, placing himself between her and Root. “I had some unfinished business here.”

“You're on the wrong side of this war, John, and it's about to get you killed. It's not too late to change that. Just step aside.”

He raised his barrier again even though he knew her blessing could pass right through it. “I'll take my chances.”

He was ready for her attack and spun around and dropped down to shield Root from the worst of it. Sharp bursts of pain ripped across his back but he ignored them and forced himself back to his feet to try and charge her again.

This time her power slashed him across the chest and he staggered back a step, his shirt drenched with blood.

Kara raised an eyebrow at him. “Last chance.”

A light so bright it hurt his eyes crawled through the air past him and Kara went flying backwards again, slamming into the wall across from the door. He turned to see Root, sitting up, hand extended.

“I can handle it from here, John.” She put one hand down to try and push herself up and winced when her palm touched the floor. He sighed to himself and reached down to grab her forearm and help her up. It got him a slightly terrifying smile, but she let him help.

Back out in the hall, Kara had managed to get back to her feet, though she was swaying back and forth a bit. Root sent another burst of electricity at her and Kara dove to the side out of view of the doorway. Root tsked in annoyance and took off after her. Reese grabbed Root's abandoned bag off the floor and followed right behind.

Root stumbled back into him as he left the room but shoved off and sent another blast down the hall, a web of blue and white bolts that filled the entire corridor. He saw Kara collapse to the floor when it hit her.

“Are you okay?” he asked Root cautiously. Had Kara hit her?

Root ignored his question and stalked down the hall, one hand still raised as a threat, towards where Kara was lying. Much to his surprise Kara was actually still conscious--her teeth were locked as if in pain and her whole body was twitching, but she was awake.

“One chance to answer before I hit you twice as hard as the last time,” Root said. “Who are you working for?”

Kara managed a rough laugh with turned into a cough. “Fuck you.”

Root raised her hand again but Reese caught her wrist. “Don't kill her.”

“Really, John? She's tried to kill you how many times now?”

He couldn't argue with that but he also couldn't let Root kill Kara as she was lying helpless on the floor. “Don't.”

Root sighed in annoyance. “We're both going to regret this later.”

Kara laughed again. “You're pathetic, both of you. Better hope your friend Shaw is still alive to save you from yourselves. I know Martine was just dying to get a second crack at her.”

Root's eyes narrowed and lightning shot from her fingers again. Kara lay still.

“She's just unconscious,” Root said when he bent to check on her. “Now where's Shaw? If Martine is after her….”

“She went to investigate something right before I came downstairs. She should have caught up by now though.” He had another thought. “Can't Machina tell you where she is? Did destroying the third anchor work?”

“I'm...not sure. And we don't have time for this. Shaw could be in trouble.” Root pulled at the front of her shirt with one hand. Blood had stained through the cloth which meant Kara must have gotten at least one attack in. At least she wasn't acting too badly hurt, but then he'd seen her ride through the forest at night with severe injuries. She brushed him aside and started off down the corridor. “Kill her or leave her, but we need to go now.”

Reese looked down at Kara one last time, thought about all the damage she could cause if he left her alive. He almost wished Root had finished her off in the fight, because he definitely couldn't now in these circumstances. He cursed at himself for being an idiot and turned to follow Root.

* * *

 

Shaw's first instinct when she saw a familiar figure vanishing down one of the palace halls was to attack immediately and without warning. Martine absolutely deserved to die for all the bullshit she'd caused them and Shaw very much wanted to be the one to strike the blow. But Martine looked way too calm and collected compared to the chaos of the rest of the palace and Shaw decided to put her vendetta on hold long enough to find out what she was up to. She needed to go after Root, but she also trusted Reese to be able to handle himself and they really needed to know who this bitch was working for.

Martine looked back over her shoulder only once and Shaw dove behind a large, ornamental plant urn and counted slowly to twenty before peeking out just in time to see her disappear around a corner. She followed cautiously, peered around the corner, and then quickly jerked her head back.

Martine had been in the middle of the hall, talking to a man dressed all in black who looked slightly familiar to Shaw, but she couldn't put a name to his face at the moment. He'd been up on the dias with the emissary when this whole mess had started but she'd definitely seen him somewhere before that. Some government official perhaps or maybe an ambassador?

A memory snapped into place. She'd been in the governor's palace in the southern province only once, and she couldn't claim to remember most of the people she'd seen on that mission, but she was positive that was where she'd seen this man before.

The southern province. The troops sent to capture them back in the swamp had been from there, and this second spirit was working with someone. The more she thought about it the more it made sense. With the emissary dead, the Imperials would retaliate against the northern province. The capital would turn into pure chaos, and there'd be much worse than angry mobs in the street. The whole province would get riled up, not just the big cities, and the time would be ripe for a proposed alliance between the provinces to throw out the Imperials. How the spirit fit into all of this she wasn't sure, but she had a hunch that the people responsible for the emissary's death were the same ones trying to bring a second spirit into this plane. She didn't know if Provincial Intelligence was working with the southern province or if it was just Martine on her own, but considering Control's ignorance when she'd interrogated Root, the latter seemed more likely.

The muffled voices from around the corner fell silent and Shaw held her breath, listening with every ounce of focus she had for footsteps. There was only the sounds of once person walking away--the man most likely judging by the gait--and that meant Martine was just standing there, waiting.

“Shall we get this over with then, Shaw?” Martine's voice sounded amused, like she'd been back at the cave before Shaw had started slicing her up. Had she known she was here the entire time?

Fighting Martine head on put Shaw at a disadvantage, especially at this range, but there was no getting around that now. Maybe she could do something to even up the odds though. She grabbed the small knife hidden in the top of her boot before rounding the corner to face Martine. She threw it before she even had a clear line of sight, judging her aim off how tall she remembered Martine being and where she'd last heard her voice. She hit the ground before she could see if her throw hit and felt a blast of heat shoot over her head.

Neither of them were going to be pulling any punches this time. Fine by her; she’d been looking forwards to this little reunion.

Instead of simply standing back up, she rolled forwards and back up to her feet, trying to close the distance between them a little more. Martine had a huge advantage over her at a distance, but she’d noted last time they’d fought that Martine’s actual fighting skills were average at best. Like many with blessings, she relied far too heavily on her powers.

She dodged another burst of flame, but let her arm trail through it to absorb a small burst of energy which was just what she needed to get that extra burst of speed and launch herself into Martine’s space. Martine jumped back and aimed another blast of fire right at Shaw, but she’d been counting on that.

She’d been thinking a lot about how to deal with Martine since their last encounter, which was why she’d hidden a small bottle in one of the pockets of her coat tonight, just in case. The glass was very thick, extremely hard to break, and it only held a small amount of liquid, about half a glass of water’s worth. Shaw popped the cap with one hand as Martine let the fire loose and flicked her wrist to shoot the clear liquid inside towards Martine right through the fire coming from her hands.

The liquid caught mid-air and burning oil splashed all over Martine’s arm. The shriek of pain that came from her was worth the slight singeing Shaw got in return. Martine retreated hastily, clutching her arm, face twisted in agony. Shaw smirked, but only was allowed a second to enjoy the victory because Martine attacked again with her good arm, sending enough flame her way that Shaw had to dodge and then drop to the floor. Martine used the opportunity to put even more distance between them.

“You know, I always wondered how good the second best agent in Provincial Intelligence was,” Martine called from down the hall.

Shaw picked herself up, watching Martine carefully. In addition to the burns on her arm, it looked like she was limping a little now--probably proof that Shaw’s first knife had hit its mark--and there was an ugly red gash on her cheek from their last encounter. Shaw took all those facts as a personal victory. “As the best agent, I'd be willing to give you some pointers,” she called back.

Martine smiled through gritted teeth. “It's not too late to change sides. Samaritan could use someone like you for what comes next.”

Samaritan? It must be the name of this other spirit everyone kept mentioning. “And what does come next?” And why hadn't Martine attacked her again? Shaw watched her eyes closely, looking for the slightest hint in them.

“Oh, I think it's more fun if it's a surprise, don't you?”

Martine's eyes flicked fractionally to the left and Shaw threw herself down and to the right. A gust of hot air blasted past her, the heat of it on her skin like the fire from earlier, except this time there were no flames. She crouched with her back to the wall so she could see down the hall in both directions. On one side was Martine, looking far too pleased with herself, and one the other was a man she'd never seen before.

This was a bad position to be in, trapped squarely between two people with very strong blessings both trying to kill her. The man's blessing seemed to be the less dangerous of the two so she figured her best bet would be to try and get past him, absorb as much of the attacks as she could and hopefully not get herself too damaged in the process.

The man sneered at her. “Caught like a rat in a tra--”

A section of the wall extruded out like an arm and slammed into him from the side, sending him sprawling down the hall. Behind him Shaw saw Carter, one hand pressed to the wall. She didn't think she'd ever been this glad to see someone before.

Noise from the other side drew her attention back to Martine who looked surprised and annoyed by this new development. She raised both hands at once and the air around her hands almost seemed to ripple and wave. Shaw had a bad feeling she knew what was coming next, and at a distance in a narrow hall with nowhere to take cover there wouldn't be a thing she could do to escape the inferno.

“Get behind me.” Carter shoved past her. Shaw saw a wall of flames swirling down the corridor towards them, swirling reds and yellows all beautiful but deadly. And then Carter leaned over and slammed one palm into the ground and a huge section of the floor stretched up like a wall rising from the ground and blocked off the entire hall. Shaw could hear the roar of the fire just beyond it, but they were completely cut off from Martine and her flames now.

Shaw let out a slow breath. “Thanks.”

Carter straightened up. “You and John never could stay out of trouble for very long.”

“Thought you were out protecting the city. Not that I'm complaining.”

“I was, but then I hear a fuss about someone finding the corpse of the Imperial emissary and I figured I'd better check in. Good thing I did, too.”

“Yeah, good thing.”

“What happened to the emissary?”

“Poisoned before we’d even gotten him out of the ballroom. Think we were set up to talk the fall for that.” She started back down the hall the way she'd come. It was past time to catch up with the other two. “You see Root or Reese?”

“No, but knowing John they're probably in just as much trouble as you were.”

“That's what I'm afraid of.”

Shaw hadn't been sure Carter would keep following her now that she was out of immediate danger, but maybe she was really worried about Reese, too, because she kept pace with Shaw. They reached the stairs down to the basement just in time to see two bedraggled figures limp out. Reese and Root both looked like they'd lost a fight, but neither of them appeared to be actively dying at least.

“The anchor?” she asked when they got close, and then, belatedly, “You two okay?”

“It's gone, destroyed,” Root said. There was blood on her face and hands and more staining her shirt and Shaw reached out to grab one of her wrists and examine her hand.

“I'm fine, Shaw, but we all need to leave right now. It's not safe here anymore for us and not just because we're being framed for the emissary's assassination.”

“Samaritan?”

The others looked confused, but Root nodded. “Machina, She was like a cork in a bottle, stuck sealing the only opening between our two planes. Once we freed Her the way was open and Samaritan came through after Her.”

“Did she know?” Reese asked. He was hunched over and had a good amount of blood on him, but Shaw figured if he was still standing he was fine.

Root shook her head. “No, of course not. It hates Her. She would never let it in this plane willingly, but it's here now and we need to leave. She can shield us from it, but only so much and it'll have human agents coming after us by now.”

“This way then.” Carter took the lead and they fell in behind her, Shaw still trying to examine Root's hand as they went.

“What the hell did you do to yourself this time?”

“Later, Shaw. It's nothing life-threatening, but Samaritan is and we're running mostly blind at the moment.”

It took Shaw a second to understand. “You can't talk to Machina anymore?”

Some emotion twisted Root's face for the briefest of seconds. “Not can't, but She has to be quiet so it can't find Her.”

“Well that sucks.”

“That's a bit in an understatement in our current predicament. We need to get to the ship and get as far from here as we can.”

“Wait.” Shaw came to a halt and the others stopped to look at her. “Carter. If you stay with us now you're going to get blame laid on you for the emissary's murder as well. If you're staying, you can't be seen with us anymore.”

Carter didn't look happy, but Reese was already agreeing.

“Think of Taylor.”

“Fine. But you three better show up when I come looking for you in a few weeks.”

“We'll be there,” Reese assured her and Shaw nodded in agreement though she still wasn't sure exactly where it was Reese was taking them.

“That might not be possible.”

They all turned to look at Root.

“We may need to get further away than just the provinces. At first, anyway.”

Carter frowned. “I don’t like this at all. You’re going to be away from anyone you might have who could help you.”

Shaw saw Root preparing a counter and quickly stepped in. “We’ll go somewhere we’re safe and then said word to you when we can, okay?” She didn’t like the idea of leaving the provinces either, but Root must have known something she didn’t and she wasn’t wrong that they needed to find somewhere safe to regroup.

Carter sighed. “Guess I can’t argue with that.”

She gave them all one last admonishment to stay out of trouble before splitting off and heading down a different hallway.

There was no one near the entrance to the palace, which was a bit odd, but Shaw wasn't going to complain about finally getting a little luck. Reese pushed the front doors open and went out onto the steps of the palace. He froze and Shaw almost crashed into him. She bit back an annoyed complaint and peered around his broad frame.

There was an entire squad of guards in front of the palace, all heavily armed. She counted at least ten bows pointed at them. Martine stood near the back of the ranks, looking very pleased with herself.

“Fuck.”

“So this is where we make our final stand then,” Reese said. “Guess we should be touched they thought this many guards were necessary to kill us.”

Root grabbed Shaw by the arm. “You're going to need to get us out of here and to the ship in a second. Unless this doesn't work.”

“What doesn't work?”

“Keep them off of me for fifteen seconds and then get behind me.”

This wasn't the time to ask questions. The first rain of arrows came flying at them and shattered against the barrier Shaw hadn't even realized Reese had raised. The rest of the guards charged at them in unison. They quickly figured out that they couldn't break through Reese's barrier directly and split off to test the sides of their defenses. Reese had focused all his energy into the front off the shield and while the guards hit some resistance they started pushing through to attack them.

Fine by Shaw, she'd been feeling a little left out. She stepped up to meet the first guards through, her long knife in one hand and a shorter dagger in the other. It was almost too easy to fight guards like this who were trained to deal with conflicts in the city and not with a trained Provincial Intelligence agent. She sidestepped the first sword swing and stuck her dagger in someone's gut. The next guard got the heel of her palm in the nose, followed by a kick to the legs, and a shove so they fell, stunned. Movements ingrained from years and years of practice and training took over and she flowed from one position to the next, her body responding with unerring precision. Two, then three, then four more guards went down and her whole body seemed to sing with the pleasure of unleashing her skill like this, pushing herself to the maximum of her potential.

“Back. Now.”

A glance at Root showed her with her eyes squeezed shut and her whole body stiff and almost vibrating with power Shaw couldn't see but knew must be there. She fell back with Reese to right behind Root.

There was a strange feeling like all the air in the courtyard was suddenly squeezing in on them and then a pulse as it released the enormous tension that had built up. She heard more than saw Root's power flare outwards in a sphere around them, the three of them safe in the eye of the storm as ask the guards in the courtyard flew back as if hit by a great force. Lightning ran over Root's entire body for a split second and then a second pulse followed the first, this time full of blue and white branches crackling in a giant inescapable ball of destruction rippling and spreading outwards.

And then it was gone and the courtyard was quiet. Nothing moved and Shaw forgot to breathe for a second in the sudden silence. But then Root folded up and collapsed like a puppet whose strings had been cut and Shaw reached out to catch her. She was still breathing and right now that was the best they could hope for.

“We need to get out of here.” She scooped Root up. In the courtyard everything remained deathly still, but beyond that she could see fires burning in the city. The citizens had finally taken matters into their own hands it looked like and between them and this new spirit threat they need to get far away.

“I'm going to have my hands full so you need to clear a path.”

Reese nodded. “I can manage that.”

“Then let's get the fuck out of here.”

* * *

 

The journey from the palace to the docks was one Root only saw in bits and pieces. Every time she managed to claw her way back up from the darkness, she'd only have a few seconds before the overwhelming exhaustion pulled her back down to sleep. What she did manage to see looked like a very different city than the one she knew. There was smoke in the air and flames and smashed windows and carriages overturned in the streets.

“What happened?” she tried to ask, though it came out in a mumble.

There was no answer. Not from Shaw and not from Her.

“We're going to need to take a detour.” It was Reese's voice coming from nearby.

“No time.”

“This is a really bad idea.”

Root must have drifted off again after that because the next thing she was aware of was the sound of boots on wood. She opened her eyes enough to see a forest of masts and sails. Good, they'd made it to the docks. The extra disorientation she felt must have been from the movement of the ship they were on, which meant Shaw and Reese had found the right ship before it had left. She was amazed that all the ships hadn't pulled up their anchors and fled when the fires started.

She was feeling a little better now, and more aware of her surroundings. Shaw was still carrying her, the silky fabric of her shirt soft against Root's skin. Her arms must be aching by now.

“Shaw?”

“Figures you wait ‘til now to wake up.”

“Put me down.” She wasn't sure she could stand, but she wanted to be able to assess the situation better on her own.

Shaw didn't even slow down. “In a minute.”

They were below decks now in a narrow wooden hallway that seemed to sway back and forth with every step forwards. Ahead of them, Reese had to duck to keep his head from bumping into the ceiling. He opened a door and stepped aside to let Shaw carry Root into a tiny cabin.

Shaw set her down on the narrow bunk and stepped back, shaking her arms out. Root tried to relax into the blankets. She still felt completely exhausted--pulling that much power at once and controlling it enough to keep it from overwhelming her had been the hardest thing she'd ever done.

She was startled when the entire bed bounced as Bear jumped up next to her. She hadn't even realized he'd been with them.

“Did you get all our packs? And the horses?”

“Yeah, we're good. Horses are already taken care of.” Shaw turned back to look at where Reese was slouched against the door frame. “Go lie down, I'll be there in a second.” He vanished into the dark hall.

Shaw set her pack on the edge of the bed and started looking through it. “Think he's hurt more than you are so I need to go make sure he doesn't bleed to death.”

“What's happening out in the city?” Root asked. Bear had curled up next to her now, a comforting line of warmth along her side.

“Not sure what set everything off, but it's a full blown revolt now. Think the Lord Governor is going to have to call the army in to get control back.”

“That's not going to end well.” Soldiers weren't trained to handle civilians. A lot of people would probably die.

“Good thing we'll be gone before that happens. This ship is taking off within the hour.” Shaw looked over at her. “Any word from Machina?”

“No.” The silence felt endless.

Shaw opened her mouth, hesitated, and then shut it again with a frown. She shook her head and went back to digging in her pack. She pulled the satchel of healing supplies out and put the pack back down on the floor. She started struggling out of the fancy coat she was still wearing in the limited space.

“Well, unless you have a better plan, we're headed to wherever the hell this ship can take us outside the provinces. Preferably somewhere outside of Imperial control completely.”

“That's fine.” She had no plan now beyond the broad intention to rip this new spirit apart piece by piece until she had Machina back. She could fill the details in as she went.

Shaw stood with her coat in her hand looking around the tiny cabin for somewhere to hang it. Her eyes fell on Root and the next thing Root knew Shaw had spread her coat out over her all the while pointedly avoiding eye contact.

“I'll be right back,” Shaw said and abruptly turned and left the room, shutting the door behind her.

Root pulled the coat tighter around her. It smelled like the smoke from the city and was still warm from Shaw's body. She was glad Bear was still there with her because without him she would have been really alone in a way she hadn't ever expected to be again.

“Please be okay,” she said quietly, hoping that She could still hear her.

She drifted off again and didn't wake up until Shaw came back. She managed to sit up on her own--Shaw's coat pooling into her lap--and was surprised that she felt a little better now.

“Is John okay?” He'd gotten hurt protecting her and she was a little annoyed to find she actually hoped he was okay.

“Looked like a giant cat had mauled his back or something. He's going to have some scars, but he'll be fine.” Shaw examined her critically. “Feels like I'm always patching you two up. Let me see your hands.”

Most out the crystal shards were long gone from her palms, and Shaw carefully removed the last few fragments and rubbed a stinging salve over all the little cuts. She helped Root get her shirt off so she could take a look at the cut Kara's blessing had left, a nasty gash running across her chest from her left collar bone across to the very top of her right breast.

“Should put a few stitches in this, but I don't have much in the way of things for the pain so it may hurt a lot.”

“It doesn't matter.” She wasn't sure whether she meant the stitches or the pain.

Shaw ignored her and insisted she chew on some type of disgusting-tasting plant which made her whole body feel a little numb and tingly before Shaw pushed her back onto the bed and carefully stitched up the cut, grumbling all the while about the poor light quality in the cabin.

It still hurt quite a lot and Shaw glared at her every time she moved, but Shaw was fast and efficient and even though her hand was firm in its hold on her, it was also gentle and Root found herself relaxing more than she'd thought was possible.

“Should have restocked on healing supplies before we left,” Shaw said as she put her supplies away. “Never gone through them so quickly before.” The last was said with an accusing glare.

“Not all of us can heal ourselves, sweetie.”

Shaw picked her bag up as if to leave and then, instead, set it on the floor and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Root, Bear squeezed between them.

“There was a reason I wasn't with Reese when he showed up to help you.” Shaw scowled at the floor and Root realized she'd looked more visibly annoyed since they'd gotten to the boat than Root could ever remember her being. “I saw Martine again and I followed her. She met up with some old dude from the southern province. Pretty sure she's working with him. Kara probably as well. And they're the ones who wanted to let Samaritan out.”

Pieces fell into place. “The soldiers in the swamp.”

“They were supposed to bring us in alive. Also explains why Martine captured Reese alive and then turned him over to Kara. The southern province have been trying to start this war and bring Samaritan across this whole time.”

Root wanted so badly for Her to chime in and confirm their theory, but there was nothing but silence. She lay down on the bed and pulled Shaw's coat back over her.

“You, uh, still can't hear her, huh?” Shaw asked.

“No.” She didn't want to discuss this. Acknowledging the loss made it worse.

“That sucks.”

A glance up at Shaw showed she was watching her, whole body tense. Root smiled before she could stop herself. She was a little surprised that she could even smile right now, but Shaw's awkward attempt to console her had actually helped even if it wasn't in the way Shaw had meant to.

Shaw got even stiffer when she saw the smile and moved to get up, but Root reached out and grabbed her wrist.

“We have one more cabin,” Shaw said. She sounded uncertain though.

“You could stay anyway.” Root released her wrist and waited to see what she would do.

Shaw stood by the edge of the bed for a few seconds, indecisiveness radiating off her in waves. Finally she sighed and started pulling her boots off. Root hid her smile this time and sat back up to take care of her own boots which she'd never gotten around to taking off.

Bear jumped down to the floor when Shaw moved to get into the bed.

“One second.” Shaw roughly shoved her boots back on and clicked her tongue for Bear and vanished out the door.

Root used the time she was gone to change into an oversized shirt that would do to sleep in and climb under the actual covers. She lay on her back and rolled up the cuffs enough to see the branching red scars on her forearms, like her lightning had painted itself on her skin from within. She'd changed so much in such a short time both inside and out. She'd never imagined herself anywhere near this moment back when she'd found that first anchor.

Shaw came back in, alone.

“Bear get his own cabin?”

Shaw chuckled as she tugged her boots back off. “No. Left him with Reese.”

Root scooted as close to the wall as she could so Shaw had room to get into the narrow bunk. There was no way not to touch in this small of a bed and Shaw must have realized that before she'd decided to stay because she climbed under the covers without hesitation. They both lay on their backs, sides pressed together.

“Guess we're fugitives wanted for murder now,” Shaw said at last.

“As opposed to before when everyone just wanted us dead.”

Shaw laughed. “Okay, true, but before we weren't supposedly responsible for the death of an Imperial official. That's potentially a lot more people after us now.”

And no Machina to help them. Root felt the emptiness inside herself like a raw, open wound. She was going to kill every single person in the southern province if that was what it took to get Her back.

“This isn't going to work,” Shaw said, pulling Root out of her thoughts.

“There's another cabin.” She fought down her disappointment.

“No, I mean I'm falling off the edge of this stupid bed. Roll over.” She shoved at Root's shoulder.

Root rolled onto her side, facing the wall, and barely breathed as Shaw rolled over after her and lay curled around her from behind, only the slightest of spaces between them now. When Shaw didn't immediately pull away, Root reached back and tugged lightly on one of Shaw's arms until it was draped over her waist. It took a few seconds for the rest of the stiffness to fade from Shaw's body and for her to relax up against Root.

It wasn't quite like that vision Root had seen in the spirit cave when she'd been a child, but it was close, a hint of things to come perhaps. And for once the idea of it didn't sound too bad. She wished she'd asked Machina about that vision back when she'd still had a chance. Now there was nothing where Her warm presence had been, nothing but a hollow feeling.

Shaw's arm curled tighter around her and Root let herself be pulled back into the curve of Shaw's body a little more firmly.

“We didn't just fight across half the province to free her only to give up,” Shaw said into the back of her neck. “We'll figure something out.”

“I don't know what to do next.” She felt a little better admitting that out loud. For so long she'd always had a plan and then she'd had Her to tell her what to do, but now she felt adrift.

“Well, I don't like being played, so I'm planning to make life really unpleasant for everyone responsible as soon as we can find a way to deal with this new spirit spying on us.”

“That's not a plan, sweetie. That's a vendetta.”

“Close enough.”

Root smiled again and shut her eyes. She was going to need her rest for what came next, and even with the gaping silence left behind by Her absence, she couldn't help but feel safe with Shaw at her back.

Behind their ship, the burning city faded from view.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the end of part 1. I'm going to be taking a (hopefully) brief break from writing this before starting part 2 which will continue in this same fic. There also may be an interlude chapter at some point. Hope people are still enjoying it.


	15. Stillport

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shows up to update 3 months late without starbucks.
> 
> a combination of work/health issues and me writing another entire fic on the side meant it took a while to update this. i was also a bit blocked on this chapter and i don't think it's my greatest writing ever, but hey there's sexy stuff at least! i'm also a little blocked on the fic in general, but i'm hoping to keep working on it regularly. can't promise super frequent updates though. but enjoy the new stuff!

Shaw breathed in the sea air and shut her eyes so she could fully enjoy the warmth of the sunlight on her skin and the feel of the ship cutting through the waves beneath her. She was out on deck practicing again this afternoon like she was most days now, flowing through each set of motions, shifting her weight and balancing easily on the unsteady deck. It felt _good_ to be outside in the fresh air with the wind in her hair and the salty smell of the sea everywhere. It'd been too long since she'd been out on the open ocean and she'd missed it more than she'd realized. There was something peaceful about being out at sea. For her anyway. Neither of her companions were fairing nearly as well.

Reese had only thrown up twice the first day and since then had been doing a lot better, though he still turned a bit pale whenever they hit rougher patches of water. Root, on the other hand, had been sick since they'd left land and, while she'd stopped throwing up now, spent all her time curled up in a miserable heap in her bunk.

The bunks on this ship were even smaller than the ones on the first ship they'd been on which made sharing impossible unless they laid on top of each other, and Shaw had no desire to be on top of or under someone suffering from seasickness so she stayed in her own tiny cabin with Bear. Fortunately Bear seemed to be handling the boat situation better than Reese or Root and since this ship was much smaller than the last they didn't have to worry about their horses since they'd had to leave them to be looked after at a farm near the port in the western province where they'd switched ships.

Shaw had been reluctant to leave her horse behind, but she'd told herself it was temporary. They would come back and fix all this and she'd ride her own damn horse into battle against Samaritan.

She wished Root could tell her more about Samaritan--what it was, and what it was up to--but without Machina, Root was just as in the dark as the rest of them. Maybe even more than the rest of them now. The seasickness wasn't the only reason Root had been hiding away. Shaw didn't think she personally felt grief to the same depth that others seemed to, but she knew what it looked like on someone else.

She came to a halt after finishing another set of exercises and opened her eyes to look out over the blue water stretching away without end in every direction. Behind her, the sounds of the crew running the ship were a comforting background hum. They were safe on this boat, Root had told her--the only useful piece of information she'd had--so for at least the next handful of days until they made dock they could all relax and heal up. Shaw had taken to sparring with Reese on the deck whenever he'd felt up to it and helped out with some of the chores around the ship to keep from going crazy with boredom. Climbing up in the rigging was exhilarating though the crew tended to watch her uneasily, no doubt worried about the risk to a paying passenger.

“It's been three days, you know.”

Shaw had heard Reese's approach but had chosen to ignore him.

“Yeah, so?”

“Is she going to stay in her bed the entire trip? It can't be helping her any to be stuck in a small, stuffy cabin.”

“Leave it alone, Reese.”

He grimaced, but dropped the topic.

The problem was she didn't fully disagree with him. It probably would do Root some good to get some fresh air and being up on deck might have helped with the sickness, but Shaw was hesitant to intrude into what Root was going through with her loss of Machina.

She wiped the sweat off her face and went to lean against the ship railing. After a moment, Reese followed her and leaned next to her.

“Any thoughts on what we're going to do when we reach port?”

Shaw shrugged. “Not particularly. Find somewhere to stay. See if there's any news we can pick up from the provinces.” Though they'd likely outrun the news so they might have to wait a week or so before information started arriving.

“Captain says we might be sailing a day longer than anticipated. Some nasty weather that we're trying to edge around,” Reese said.

Which meant they'd be stuck on the ship even longer. She sighed. She'd been looking forwards to the fact that landfall would mean Root would have to get out of bed and she wouldn't be stuck with this weight of indecision over whether she was supposed to do something or if Root would even want her to. Now she had one more day to add to the wait.

“Guess we wouldn't want to risk you heaving your guts up again."

Reese winced slightly in agreement. "It'll be even worse for her. Have you checked in on her recently?"

"Not yet today." She looked in at least once a day, brought food by if nothing else, but Root hadn't been chatty and had seemed to want to suffer in solitude and Shaw had wanted to respect that. Except there was some nagging part of her that wasn't sure that had been the right move. Why was this shit so complicated?

She shut her eyes again and tried to enjoy the smell of the ocean and the motion of the waves, but the slight thread of worry in her gut wouldn't go away.

* * *

 

By the next evening, Shaw had finally decided on a course of action.

“Up,” Shaw ordered, pulling the sheets off of Root's bed. Root was fully dressed underneath which couldn't have been comfortable but probably had a lot to do with the flimsy excuse for cabin doors here that swung open on their own all the time. She was wearing a long skirt, much to Shaw's surprise, (Shaw hadn't even been aware she owned one) which didn't seem like a great thing to wear on a ship, but maybe it was better for moping in bed all day in than pants world have been.

“Up?” Root asked. She looked exhausted. Despite the fact she rarely got out of her bed, she never seemed to sleep.

“Yeah, we're going up on deck.” Shaw grabbed her by one arm and tried to get her to sit up.

“I think that might make me feel worse,” Root protested, but she sat up anyway.

“Tough.”

Root dragged her feet but let Shaw herd her out of the cabin and up the stairs onto the deck above. It was early evening, and between the fog that had been hanging around all day and the heavy clouds, it was hard to see all the way across the deck. There were only a few sailors out now, just enough to keep the boat safe and on course, and no one spared a glance as Shaw led Root to the very back of the main deck behind the captain's cabin. She transferred Root's grip on her arm to the ship railing.

“Look out at the horizon.”

Root grimaced. “It's bad enough that I can feel the waves. I don't need to see them, too.”

“Just look at the damn horizon, okay?” The fog made it a little hard to see, but she thought it might be enough.

Root sighed and leaned both her arms on the railing before dutifully staring out across the water. Shaw stood next to her, watching the water churn directly below them as the ship cut through the waves. They stood there in silence as the sky gradually got darker and the fog closed in more.

“Feeling any better?” she asked once it was too dark and foggy to see the horizon line anymore.

“Yes, actually.” Root sounded suspicious and Shaw chuckled.

“Looking out at the horizon helps with the seasickness sometimes. Not sure why, but I figure maybe it helps your brain understand the movement.” She had never gotten seasick in her life, another benefit of her skill perhaps.

The fog had gotten heavier as they'd stood there and the horizon was hidden now, but Root still looked like she was doing much better. Physically, anyway. There wasn't much Shaw could do to fix her other problem right now other than try to keep them alive long enough the help Machina.

Or maybe there was something else. A temporary solution. Maybe what Root needed was...a distraction.

Shaw glanced back over her shoulder. They were completely hidden from view from the rest of the deck back here by the large blocky cabin structure on the deck and the fog made them even harder to see. Satisfied they had at least the illusion of privacy, she left the railing and stood behind Root instead, placing her hands on the railing on either side of Root and pressing up against her back so she was trapped against the railing. Root went completely still for a second and then leaned back into her with a deep chuckle.

“Really, sweetie? Here?”

“You got a problem with here?” Shaw asked as she nosed her way up Root's neck and pushed Root more firmly against the railing.

“No problem at all. I didn't realize you were into such...public locations though.”

“Don't think anyone can see us back here.” She breathed a rush of warm air onto the side of Root's face, just below her ear, and took satisfaction in the way it made Root shiver against her. “And if they hear us, well….”

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

Shaw bent down just enough to grab the hem of Root's skirt and pull it up. She slid her hand along the smooth skin of Root's outer thigh, moving slowly but purposefully towards her goal. she circled her free arm around Root and splayed her hand across Root's stomach over her shirt.

“Is this part of the cure for seasickness as well?” Root asked, amused.

“I did study medicine for years, you know. We learned all about seasickness.” Shaw pressed her knee between Root's legs from behind, making her spread her legs and give Shaw a little more room to work.

Root swallowed heavily as Shaw's hand inched up her thigh. “You must have done very well in that class.”

“I did well in all my classes, but I've always been more of a--” She shoved her fingers down the front of Root's underwear. “--hands on learner.”

Root moaned loudly in response and Shaw almost glanced over her shoulder again. She should have been worried about getting caught, but, if anything, it just made the whole thing more enticing, and if the way Root was already pushing into her fingers was anything to go by, she agreed.

Shaw took her time, drawing slow but firm circles over Root's clit while she pressed down hard on her stomach with her other hand and pushed her hips into her from behind. Root's fingers were locked tightly around the railing, knuckles white, and her head fell back, resting on Shaw's shoulder. Usually she was far less passive than this, but she hadn't been feeling well for days, and Shaw definitely didn't mind picking up the slack.

The air around them smelled heavy and damp from the fog, but also like the salt of the sea. Shaw moved her fingers in time with the rise and fall of the ship as it cut through the waves. She was slightly startled when Root's hand wrapped around her wrist tightly and tried to speed up her motions. Maybe she really was feeling better. Shaw slowed down even more for a second--just because she could--and then gave in and sped up her movements, applying just the amount of pressure she knew Root liked best. Her other hand left Root's stomach and traveled up to squeeze one of her breasts, her fingers seeking out and pinching her nipple through her shirt.

Root's hand was still wrapped around her wrist, squeezing painfully hard every few seconds. Between that and the way Root's ass was pressing back into her body Shaw knew she was going to have to make sure she didn't completely wear Root out or find time to take care of herself later.

“Shaw…” Root's voice was breathy and strained, but Shaw could hear the request in it just fine. She readjusted her hand and teased Root with one finger before pulling out and then sliding into her with two. She felt so good around Shaw's fingers, hot and slick, and Shaw had _missed_ being inside her like this. She felt a pang of regret that she hadn't pursued this option days ago.

“Deeper.” Root's voice was rough and demanding and it sent a bolt of heat through Shaw that settled pleasantly low inside her. She slid in as far as their current position allowed and Root pushed down onto her fingers with her hips. It was an incredible feeling--her fingers deep inside Root, and Root's hand bruising her arm, and the ship and the waves beneath them. She curled her fingers, experimentally, and Root's legs damn near gave out. Shaw grabbed her around the waist with her other arm to steady her. Root had been sick for days now and had barely gotten out of bed so no wonder she was a bit out of it. Shaw also suspected she was still exhausted from that little stunt she'd pulled back in the capital even though Root insisted she was fully recovered.

“You okay?” she asked.

Root's only answer was to tug meaningfully on Shaw's wrist and then move her hand back to the railing to support herself. Shaw got a firmer grip around Root's waist and scooted them both back a step. Root got the idea and leaned forwards to rest her weight on her forearms on the railing. Satisfied with their new position, Shaw started thrusting into Root again at a slow, steady pace guaranteed to keep her worked up without ever giving her quite enough. She flicked her thumb over Root's clit from time to time and was rewarded with Root shuddering and pushing backwards into her with her ass. Shaw smoothed a hand up Root's back and then, content that she wasn't going to fall over again, sped up with her fingers, fucking her fast and thoroughly and grinding her hips into Root's ass. Root didn't last long and her muscles fluttered around Shaw's fingers and a choked cry escaped her lips and echoed out across the fog-covered waters a little louder than Shaw would have liked.

Root's legs were shaking and she was clutching the railing for support so Shaw pulled out carefully and helped her sit down on the deck to catch her breath. Root's face was flushed and her breath was coming out in fast pants still, but there was a dopey smile on her face that made some tension Shaw hadn't been aware she'd been carrying leave her. She didn't think she'd seen Root smile since before they'd left the capital.

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

“I'm not sure what prompted getting the full benefit of your medical expertise, but I can't say I object,” Root said when she caught her breath.

“Figured you could use some fresh air.”

“I'm not sure this qualifies as fresh.” Root gestured at the fog.

“You two okay?”

Shaw turned to see one of the crew members whose name she didn't remember--one of the younger sailors who Shaw had caught watching her a few times when she'd been sparring with Reese up on deck. Her cheeks were flushed pink now and Shaw wondered how long she'd been standing there.

“Fine,” she answered quickly before Root had a chance. “My friend here just isn't a very good sailor.” She offered Root a hand up.

“On the contrary--” Root allowed herself to be pulled to her feet. “--I find sailing very...stimulating.”

The sailor turned beet red and Shaw scowled at Root. At least she seemed to be in a better mood now. Maybe Shaw should have bent her over the ship railing days ago.

“I'm going to take her back to her cabin now. Don't worry about us.”

“Sameen will take _good_ care of me,” Root assured the sailor as Shaw led her past.

“We probably traumatized her,” Shaw said as they headed back down the stairs.

“Or inspired her.”

Root's cabin seemed small and stuffy after being up on deck, but Root didn't seem to mind at all and kicked her shoes off and lay back across the narrow bunk. Shaw had sort of been hoping for some reciprocation, but maybe she'd fucked all the remaining energy out of Root. Well, it wouldn't be the first time on this trip she'd had to take care of herself.

“Guess I'll head back to my cabin now.”

Root propped herself up on her elbows and raised an eyebrow at her. “It would be rude of me to send you back now. Come here.”

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

Which is how Shaw ended up riding Root's face in the tiny cabin where the ceiling was low enough that her head bumped into it sometimes. She'd shoved some bags and a chair in front of the flimsy door in the hopes it would keep it shut, but she wasn't too concerned, not when she had much more important things to focus on, like Root's tongue sliding into her and Root's nails digging into her ass. Shaw had one hand braced on the wall behind the bed and the other wrapped around the chain that anchored the bed to the wall. It was far from the most graceful or comfortable position ever, but it was definitely worth it.

As Root's skilled mouth pulled her closer and closer to the edge, she abandoned her grip on the chain and tangled her hand in Root's hair to pull her in closer so she could more fully fuck herself on her face. She managed to stay almost silent when she came and awkwardly backed up enough so that she could collapse on top of Root to recover in the tiny bunk.

* * *

* * *

* * *

 

Root seemed totally fine with that and even started petting Shaw's hair in an obnoxious way that Shaw was definitely going to tell her to stop once she caught her breath.

“Thanks for the seasickness cure,” Root said after a few minutes of only the sounds of their heavy breathing. “I'm sorry I haven't been much help this week.”

“Not much to do stuck on a boat,” Shaw said into her collarbone. She could hear her voice slur a little and was surprised to realize she was on the edge of sleep. Root's fingers in her hair felt nice, relaxing. Maybe she wouldn't tell her to stop after all.

"It's less quiet with you here," Root mused.

Shaw hadn't been aware she was making much noise. "Give me a second and I'll head back to my cabin." Though she could feel sleep pulling at her.

"No, I didn't mean.... You should stay, if you want." There was some emotion in Root's voice that Shaw couldn't quite place.

"Okay," Shaw mumbled, too tired to manage anything more.

Root started the say something else but Shaw was asleep before she could hear what it was.

* * *

 

The difference between the capital and the new city they found themselves in was stark. The capital had been full of tension and anger, people clustering together to whisper and plot. This city, the free city of Stillport, was tucked into a bay on an otherwise unsettled island outside of the Empire's borders. The city stood on its own, with no greater allegiance, ruled solely by a local government and wealthy from trade. Outside the window of the inn they were staying at, the streets were bustling and full of life. The dark shadow that had hung over the capital was nowhere to be found.

Root felt safer here than she had since the night they'd escaped the capital. Stillport didn't have rules about blessings or a ban against Shaw's skill. It was a city made up of folks from all over who'd ended up here in a variety of ways and while there were laws, they were much less rigid than Imperial laws. She pushed the shutters on the window wide open and looked down into the street below. Bright, garish outfits seemed to be popular at the moment, and the street was a blur of color and noise. Their inn was close enough to the sea that Root could smell the saltiness, but she could also smell all sorts of food that was being sold by the street vendors below. Shaw and Reese had both seemed to thrive in the life and freedom of Stillport, but Root couldn't quite manage to share their enthusiasm. She'd thought she'd gotten better at hiding that though.

She heard something behind her and turned to see Shaw stirring slightly in the bed in the patch of sunlight that had come in through the window. She wasn't awake yet, but she rolled over as if to escape the light, leaving one leg flung out from under the covers.

Sharing a room had partly been for financial reasons. Root had a great deal of coin with her, enough to see them set up properly here for quite some time, but there was no sense in wasting it when they didn't need to and the inn beds were easily large enough for two. Sharing a bed was taking a little getting used to (Root had never been fond of sharing her sleeping space), but it hadn't been the worst thing to ever happen to her. Shaw didn't seem to think it was a big deal and it made sex way more convenient for both of them since no one had to sneak back to a different room after. Reese wisely hadn't commented on it at all, or at least not in Root's presence.

It was also nice to not be alone at night when the silence seemed extra loud. She'd had Machina for such a short time, but without Her the world felt empty and cold. Having Shaw's quiet breathing in the bed next to her at night was a small piece of comfort.

Root walked over to the bed and looked down at where Shaw slept. She looked so peaceful sprawled across the bed with her limbs sticking out from under the covers here and there. As Root watched, Shaw's eyelids fluttered and the fingers on one of her hands twitched slightly. She must be having a dream. It seemed a shame to wake her, but Root had promised.

She shook Shaw's blanket-covered shoulder lightly. “Shaw, it's time.”

Shaw's eyes snapped open and she squinted against the bright light from the window and then shut them again with a groan. Root bit back a smile.

“I can go without you and you can sleep in, if you want.”

“Just give me a second,” Shaw grumbled.

Root pretended to be looking out the window as Shaw stumbled around finding her clothes, but watched her out of the corner of her eye. Shaw wouldn't mind her looking at this point, but sneaking peeks was more fun somehow.

“You looked like you were having a dream,” Root said as they headed down the stairs.

“Yeah, I was.” Shaw cast a longing look towards the common room if the inn full of its tantalizing smells of cooking. She sighed and headed for the door instead.

“Was it a good one?”

Shaw snorted. “Definitely not the way you mean. No, it wasn't good or bad. It was about something that happened a while ago back when I worked for Provincial Intelligence.”

“Oh?” Root asked, trying not to sound too eager for details. She knew more about Shaw's past than she probably should have, but she didn't know many details.

They stepped outside into the bright sunlight and fell in with the flow of the crowds in the street. It was hot out today, but there was a nice breeze coming up from the ocean that made it tolerable. Root had thought Shaw wasn't going to give her any more, so she was surprised when Shaw moved a step closer to her to be heard and started talking again.

“Yeah, there was a mission Cole and I did back then. I guess it kind of stood out and stayed around in my brain. Wasn't anything special though.” She looked over at Root and her mouth twitched as if she was fighting back a smile. “And I get the feeling that if I don't tell you about it you're going to die of curiosity, aren't you?”

Root couldn't come up with a nonchalant reply quickly enough and Shaw shook her head and chuckled.

“Tempting to just let you suffer, but fine.” She turned them down a side street that would take them on a slightly longer route but was much quieter. “It was maybe a year into my time with Provincial Intelligence. My partner, Cole and I were sent to do some recon of this tiny little border town. Southern provincial army had overrun it a few months earlier and we were making a push to take it back. Typical stuff.”

Root nodded as she listened but stayed silent. She might know bits and pieces of Shaw's past, but no details and Shaw had never offered them up like this before. She didn't want to risk interrupting and losing this chance.

“The thing was, this town had a big old stone temple up on a hill right in the middle of it and the fifty or so southern soldiers who'd be left to hold the town holed up in there. Building like that would be damn near impossible to rush since all the soldiers had bows and the high ground, and some of them undoubtedly had blessings, though probably nothing special or they wouldn't have been left there. Cole and I were ordered to scout it out and see if there was anything we could do to even the odds. Army was going to march a whole squad in the next day to take it by force.” Shaw scowled at a building they were passing. “The squad was all green recruits. Army knew they'd be slaughtered by the score before they got in that temple, so they sent their least valuable troops. Bunch of kids basically. Barely knew how to hold their swords.”

Shaw sighed and looked forwards again. “Thing about this town was it had good proximity to a mine. There's a lot of useful supplies to be had at a mining site, like the explosive powder they use to blast new mining shafts. Wasn't hard to get my hands on a bunch of it.”

She paused mid-step, her attention focused on a little street cart at the side of the road that was selling meat pies of some sort. Root walked past her and ordered two without waiting for Shaw to ask first. She handed both over to Shaw who was watching her sheepishly from a few steps away, as if embarrassed she'd been so obvious.

“Thanks,” Shaw said gruffly and stuffed half of one in her mouth. When she finished chewing enough to talk, she continued her story. “So, I crawled through the brush and snuck through the town in the dead of night carrying small barrels of this blasting powder. Took me three trips total and every second I was sure I'd be spotted by their look outs. But I wasn't. And I got into the basement and poured that powder all over the foundations of the building and left a trail of it running up to the surface. When I got back out of town all it took was one flaming arrow and the whole temple came crashing down on the soldiers.” She bit into her pie like it had personally offended her. “Cole was weird about the whole thing. He got that we'd completed the mission and prevented a huge casualty count, but something about it never sat right with him.”

“If he was in Provincial Intelligence then his hands were far from clean,” Root interrupted. “He had no right to judge you for that.”

“No, it wasn't like that. He wasn't judging. I think...I think that's when he realized that _he_ couldn't have done that. That maybe we were different in some ways. He didn't think less of me for it--if anything I think he felt guilty he couldn't have done the same.”

Root still felt a twinge of defensiveness on Shaw's behalf, but she put it aside. “You saved a lot of lives. The soldiers in the temple would have died anyway the next day and a lot of other people with them.” She wouldn't have cared one way or the other how many people had died, but that was her. Shaw tried to do the right thing--it was something Root had come to admire about her despite how little she cared about right and wrong--and she did it regardless of if it meant getting her own hands dirty.

“I don't have any regrets about it or anything like that,” Shaw said, swallowing the last of her pie. “But sometimes I dream about crawling across the damn countryside with barrels full of highly explosive powder just waiting to be shot by an arrow or to jolt one of the barrels the wrong way and blow myself up. What a pain in the ass that was.” She brushed the crumbs off her hands.

“Any indication if there's been any new ships?” she asked and Root had to remember why it was she'd woken Shaw up on the first place. The story had distracted her, but apparently Shaw was done talking about it now.

“There's so many sailors here that it's hard to spot new ones.”

They'd spent the last week waiting for a ship from the provinces to bring news of what had happened in the capital since they'd left, but so far there'd been none. Every afternoon they went down to the docks to scout out the new arrivals. Without information it was hard to make a plan, and none of them wanted to go back blind.

“Guess we'll see then.”

Reese was waiting for them down near the docks. He was staying in the same inn, but he often went out earlier than them. Or earlier than Root anyway. It was rare that she woke up earlier than Shaw like she had today.

“Maybe they shut down the harbor in the capital,” Reese said, glumly.

Shaw shook her head. “Maybe the Imperials did, but I can't see the Lord Governor going for that.”

Root stayed silent for the walk, fighting the nagging feeling of guilt that she should _know._ If only Machina could talk to her for even one second…. But this far from the Empire that would have been more complicated even without Samaritan in the mix.

The harbor was always a chaotic mess of activity, and today was no exception. Root peered out across the sea of masts to see if she could spot a newcomer that might have come from the provinces. None had the Imperial colors though.

Shaw tapped her on the arm and pointed. “That one. It was in the harbor the morning of the ball.”

It was smaller ship and didn't fly any flag Root could see--a trade ship perhaps.

“You have a good memory,” she said appreciatively. She wouldn't have remembered any of the ships. “Let's see if we can find a chatty sailor.”

That part was easy enough. Sailors coming to shore usually headed straight for the nearest place they could get a hot meal and a drink at, so the taverns on the docks were overflowing. There wasn't a great way to spot which drunk came from which ship, but Shaw pointed at one man sitting at a table in the corner of the second tavern.

“He's new.”

“How can you tell?” Reese asked.

“Looks a lot cleaner than most of the sailors here. And I'd have remembered him.”

"Really?" Reese asked. " _That_ guy?"

Shaw squinted suspiciously at him. "Yeah, why?"

"Nothing. Nothing. No accounting for tast--ow!" Reese limped a step away and rubbed his shin where Shaw had kicked him while glaring at her reproachfully.

Root was careful to hide her smile at their antics lest she be the next one to get a bruised shin, She left them squabbling and set out to the table with the sailor Shaw had spotted.

The sailor looked up when she approached. "Can I help you, lady?" He sounded suspicious and possibly exasperated?

“Can I buy you lunch in return for some news?” Root offered with what she hoped was her least threatening smile.

The sailor looked like he was about to object, but that was right when Shaw and Reese joined them. “All three of you are buying me lunch?" he asked. He looked John up and down speculatively and then shrugged “Suit yourselves.”

Root almost laughed. Shaw wasn't going to have much luck with this guy, but maybe John would. She made sure to sit a little closer than was necessary to Shaw and saw the sailor's eyes flick back and forth between them and then his body posture relax a little.

Shaw had definitely struck out with this guy.

If Shaw noticed, she made no indication of it and just signaled a tavern hand and waited until the sailor had ordered a significant amount more food to go with what he already had.

“Your ship come in from the provinces by any chance?” Shaw asked, pointedly removing Root's hand from her thigh under the table.

The sailor nodded. “We got stuck there a few extra days until everything died down. Whole harbor was a mess of ships trying to get out and the captain decided to lay low right off the docks a span until everyone calmed down.”

That sounded like about what they'd expected, but it still wasn't encouraging.

“What can you tell us about what was going on in the capital?” Root asked. She wasn't sure what Samaritan's influence would look like, but there must be something.

The sailor considered them for a moment over his mug. “I'm guessing you lot know something about it since you knew to ask. Heard they were looking for a couple of folks for questioning about the Imperial Emissary's untimely death." He studied their faces for a second and Root let her hand fall to the hilt of the dagger she had at her belt. After a tense second, the sailor just shrugged. "Well, none of my business anyway. There were riots about the taxes the night the Lord Governor threw her fancy party. Started with some bricks getting thrown through windows and next thing you know there's shops on fire and people building barricades in the roads. The city guard lost control of things pretty fast and the Lord Governor had to call in the military.”

Root was suddenly very, very glad they'd managed to get to their boat in time. She only remembered little bits and pieces of that night, but she'd gotten the impression it hadn't been easy for Shaw and Reese to get her to the docks.

“Bad idea,” Reese said. “Military isn't trained to handle civilians.” There was a slight expression on his face that Root thought might have been worry. About his friend, Carter no doubt. Root had a feeling Carter wasn't the type to let the military just shoot civilians.

The sailor nodded. “As you say. Turned real ugly for a spell but it got things quiet again. Only the citizens were even more restless but just all quiet like so they wouldn't get shot. Whole place was a powder keg ready to go up and that was before we spotted Imperial sails on the horizon.”

Root tried to imagine how that would all play out. If just the emissary’s visit had caused riots, then the Imperials’ presence would be like fuel on a fire.

“Was the military still in the city when the Imperials arrived?” she asked.

“It was down to just a few squads left to keep the peace and the city guard were mostly back in charge of things. The Imperials brought enough soldiers to make up for that, though.”

“That must have gone over well,” said Shaw. She'd remained expressionless for most of the exchange and Root wished she knew what was going on in her head.

“Turns out that the local guard are much less willing to step aside for soldiers if they're wearing Imperial uniforms. When we left the last we'd heard was that the provincial military had split over the whole thing and the Lord Governor was under house arrest, though by which group was unclear.”

And Machina would be stuck watching all this unfold and unable to do anything to stop it and now without anyone to even talk to about it. Root had been trying very hard to keep the pervasive feeling of despair that she was wrapped in pushed down and tucked away, but it still swam to the surface from time to time.

Shaw had an uncanny knack for noticing when she was wallowing in melancholy and had gotten into the habit of hoisting Root onto the nearest piece of furniture and driving all the dark thoughts away in the best way possible. When they were in private anyway. A crowded tavern on the docks was not quite the place for that, though she had seen Shaw cast several sideways glances at her in the last few minutes. Ah well, something to look forwards to a little later then.

The sailor had kept talking while Root had been lost in thought and she tried to catch back up. “--so the Captain told us to pull up anchor and get the hell out before the Imperial Navy showed up too. Had to bribe our way out, and I don't think we'll be headed back anytime soon.”

That was another potential problem. Could they even find a ship willing to take them back if the provinces were in turmoil?

The sailor didn't seem to have much more information since he'd stayed on his ship through the worst of it (though he mentioned other ships may have left around the same time his had) and Root tuned out of the obligatory forced small talk that John attempted to wade through before they could leave.

“You didn't have much to say,” Shaw said as they headed back up the hill towards their inn. They'd left Reese behind to see if he could find out anything more or possibly so he could get friendlier with the sailor they'd met, Root wasn't sure which.

“I'm not sure what I could have added.”

“You know you can--” Shaw stopped and sighed. “Never mind.”

“I can what?” Root asked, a thread of curiosity popping out of the dark fog her mind felt wrapped in lately.

“You don't need Machina to have a say in things. You can make guesses about stuff and run the risk of being wrong like the rest of us.”

Root opened her mouth to argue but then shut it again and frowned. She wanted to say that Shaw was wrong and that she wasn't that completely lost without Machina, but she wasn't sure that wouldn't be a lie. There was no need for Shaw to look so smug though.

“I was thinking we could hire a ship,” Shaw continued as if she hadn't just scored a direct hit. “We've got enough money for it though it'll hurt a bit. Sail to the coast of the western province and see if Machina has anything to say once you're back in range.”

The problem with Stillport was that there were no spirit caves anywhere remotely near it. While the spirits' world and theirs didn't align evenly, the spirit caves served as anchors between the two, creating a window into their world through which the spirits could see them more clearly. Even though Machina was in this world and not necessarily bound to the area defined by the caves, She hadn't ventured far beyond their boundaries and Root had gotten the impression that such a method of exploration was tiring and possibly frightening for Her, but Root still kept hoping She'd find a way to reach out to her eventually. At least it gave them a little temporary safety from Samaritan.

“That might not be a bad idea.” And she was desperate to hear Her again, even if it meant some risk. Even if it meant being seasick again.

“You know, we almost could just stay here,” Shaw said. “We'd be out of reach of Samaritan and the Empire has never even come close to conquering Stillport.” The tides and the narrow entrance to the bay made the Imperial Navy useless. Stillport could be held almost indefinitely by a very small force and the Empire had decided that using the trade port like everyone else was a better deal than losing a fleet trying to capture a tiny spit of land.

“Samaritan’s influence could spread this far. It would take time, but eventually it can reach everywhere.”

“Yeah, well, we've got other reasons to go back as well. Like Carter. And Machina. It was just nice to think about for a minute.” Shaw sighed.

“You'd get bored here within a month.”

“Honestly? I'm already bored.”

Root held a hand to her chest in mock outrage. “Well, clearly I have some work to do then.”

Shaw chuckled. “Let's say we go hire this ship at the end of the week if we haven't heard anything more.”

It wasn't much of a plan, but it was something, and it made Root feel a little better.

“I suppose until then I'll have to find some way to keep you from languishing away of boredom.”

She saw Shaw smirk.

“Guess you will.”


	16. Fisher's Landing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> apologies for the long break between updates. life. it happens. the good news is i have two chapters past this already written so there'll be a few in a row. hopefully i can use that buffer to get more writing done, though no promises. i would really like to finish this before the end of the year.

"Shut your eyes."

Reese hesitated. Across from him, Root sighed in exasperation.

"What exactly do you think I'm going to do when you shut your eyes, John? Take your coin purse?"

He shrugged. It wasn't that he thought she was going to do anything, it was only some lingering distrust.

"Even if I tried anything, Shaw is right there. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to forcibly restrain me."

"True, but I wouldn't stop you from stealing his purse," Shaw pointed out from where she sat perched on the bed.

Reese was sitting on the floor across from Root in Root and Shaw's room at the inn. He'd rather have been back in his own room sleeping, or maybe down at the docks spending time with his new friend, but if they were really going to sail back to the provinces in two days then this had to be taken care of first.

He shut his eyes. "Now what?"

"When you channel your blessing, where does the power come from?" Root sounded uncharacteristically serious, all business for once.

"I don't know. Inside me, I guess?"

"Well, obviously, John, but where inside of you? You need to be able to trace the path of it inside of you. There's a channel inside of you, like a doorway that your blessing comes through."

"I have no clue what that means."

He heard Root's annoyed sigh. "John, focus. This isn't that hard. I figured this out when I was twelve."

"Not all of us were homicidal prodigies," he grumbled, but he did try and focus. He carefully pulled up a barrier and tried to pay attention to how he did it this time. He thought he could sense something inside himself, like a central point that power radiated out from to form the barrier. "Okay, I think I can see the...doorway." Whatever it was felt like it was in the middle of his chest.

"Good, now, can you feel the way the power of your blessing flows through it? Like a current."

"Uh, maybe."

"What you need to do now is invert that power right where it flows through the doorway. Flip it inside out."

Reese opened his eyes to frown at her. "What the hell does that even mean?"

Root frowned right back. "You need to take this seriously, John, or you'll get us all killed."

The idea had sounded logical when she'd first proposed it: Root would teach him to hide himself from the spirits the way she could. Blessings--or rather the channel opened inside people that let them access their blessing--were one of the main ways spirits tracked humans, and if he went back in range of Samaritan it could find him that way.

He tried for a reasonable tone of voice. "I'm taking this seriously, I just don't have any clue how to do whatever it is you want me to do."

"You haven't even tried!"

"That's because I don't know what it is I'm trying to do!"

They glared at each other and then both turned to glare at Shaw when she chuckled. Shaw held up both hands. "Don't mind me."

"Fine, I'll try," Reese grumbled. He shut his eyes and pulled up a barrier again, a weak one that wasn't large enough to touch anything else in the room. He concentrated on the source of the blessing, feeling the power feed through the channel freely. He got how important this was--if he couldn't learn how to master this then he'd be putting all of them in danger when they went back, and he needed to get back as soon as possible. Carter and Zoe could be in danger and need their help.

And he had to stop Kara from whatever it was she was up to. It was by his choice she was still alive and that meant that anything she did was partly his fault.

He tried to twist the flow of power, turn it to the side, but it flickered and his shield fell away. He sighed and opened his eyes.

"It's not working. Is there another way to do this? Maybe a way to get rid of my blessing altogether?" He hated the idea, but if it would keep them safe….

"Try visualizing it."

Reese and Root both turned to look at Shaw in surprise. Shaw rolled her eyes. "Listen, I don't have a fancy blessing like you two. I had to learn to use my skill from nothing and a big part of that was learning how to visualize something that I couldn't see. So--" Shaw picked up a shirt from the bed and held up one of sleeves. "--try visualizing it." She reached one hand into the sleeve and pulled it inside out in one smooth motion. "Like that."

"That's not how--" Root stopped at a look from Shaw.

Reese nodded to himself and shut his eyes again. He pulled up his barrier and focused at the origin of it. It wasn't quite right, but he could almost imagine the power coming through in a tube shape, not unlike a shirt sleeve. If that was what it looked like then--

He wasn't quite sure what he did, but this time his power didn't vanish, but instead changed in some subtle way. He felt a thrill of success and then it slipped away as his blessing vanished again.

"I did it," he says, opening his eyes. "Only for a second, but I think it was what you said."

"Good." Root nodded. "You're going to need to practice until you can keep it up constantly. Even when you're not using your blessing you'll need to be able to hide the channel inside yourself so Samaritan can't find you."

"We've only got a few days left," he protested. "That's not enough time."

"Guess you'd better get busy then."

He sighed. He knew she was right, and he couldn't stop thinking about the last time he'd seen Carter. He really needed to get back.

"So is no one going to thank me for my brilliant example?" Shaw asked from the bed. "Much better than your lack of an explanation."

Root got up to sit next to her on the bed. "It was a very good idea, sweetie." She closed the distance between them so her leg was touching Shaw's. Reese looked away.

It was no secret they were sharing a room--they'd never tried to hide that--but he still wasn't sure exactly what they were to each other. It wasn't any of his business, but he couldn't help but wonder.

"Let's get some dinner," Shaw said getting up from the bed. "And then Reese can go spend the rest of the night flipping shirt sleeves inside out."

Reese got up as well and stretched out. He could use some food.

"And what are _we_ going to spend the rest of the night doing?" Root asked Shaw, her eyes dancing.

Reese beat a hasty retreat before he could hear the answer.

* * *

 

Root sat cross-legged against the mast of the ship, her eyes shut and her hands resting on her knees. The temperature had finally started to drop in the last few days, but sitting here in the direct sunlight it was still quite hot and she could feel the sweat rolling down her spine. Around her she could hear the sounds of the crew as they went about their jobs and the cries of sea birds wheeling overhead. She tried to block out the noise and concentrate inwards instead.

The channel inside of her which powered her blessing was as wide open as ever, but it felt different somehow, almost as if there was something on the other side, watching. The feeling had only grown the closer they sailed to the provinces. She didn't dare reach for power now, not if there was any chance that the thing she sensed was Samaritan.

There was still too much she didn't know about what they were sailing into. She barely understood what Samaritan wanted on this plane. Power perhaps? Could it still connect to the larger group mind of the spirits or was it cut off like Machina was? And just what state was Machina currently in?

She wasn't sure if spirits could die, but she knew that Machina still existed. Machina hadn't been wrong about there being a residual connection between them left over from when She'd saved Root's life back when she'd been a child, and Root had spent the two miserable boat rides to Stillport searching within herself for some trace of it. And she'd found it--so faint it was like a dying ember. Machina was still out there.

"You awake?"

Shaw's voice made her open her eyes. She had to squint against the sun to see Shaw's face peering down at her.

"What's wrong?"

Shaw sat down next to her and lowered her voice. "Nothing's wrong exactly, but the crew is already nervous about sailing near the provinces right now and whatever it is you're up to out here is putting them more on edge."

"Up to? I'm just sitting here." She could see the suspicious looks the crew were shooting her now. "What do they think I'm doing?"

"Not sure, but I have a guess. The weather has apparently been unusually good for this time of year. Big storm that was supposed to hit got swept around the coast instead."

Root almost laughed. Here she was, too scared to even make sparks and these sailors thought she'd banished a storm. "Well, I'm flattered, but that had nothing to do with me."

Shaw snorted. "I know it didn't, especially since I heard it was headed right towards the capital of the northern province. You know, right where the Imperial Navy was sailing."

Root felt as if the sweat on her skin had turned to ice. "Samaritan…."

"It could do that then?"

"I'm not sure. It's possible, I suppose. At the very least a group of people with blessings working together under its command could."

"Just great." Shaw stood up, brushed herself off, and offered Root a hand up. "Let's get out of the sun for a bit."

"I don't feel as sick up here." That had been a hard-learned lesson from their last trip.

"Too much sun isn't good either. Come on." Shaw glanced around and lowered her voice. "Also I thought it was time to discuss our next move."

Root took Shaw's hand and let her pull her to her feet. And maybe she lost her balance a little (ship decks were _so_ treacherous) and fell forwards onto Shaw who quickly grabbed her hips to steady her. Shaw gave an exasperated sigh and propped her back up. "Are you done?"

She smirked but didn't answer. The truth was she'd gotten used to the arrangement they'd had going back in Stillport. All the sex had been great and she'd even enjoyed the sleeping in the same bed part (though they'd slept on opposite sides of the bed most of the time, more like roommates than anything else). She'd gotten used to feeling Shaw's touch regularly and now that they'd left and no longer had a private room and the convenient excuse of saving money on a shared room she wasn't sure where they stood.

What would happen after the day they defeated Samaritan? She knew it was far too soon to even think about that, but it was still a distant but constant worry in the back of her mind. She wasn't sure exactly what she wanted from Shaw long-term, what that relationship might look like to work for both of them, but she knew she didn't want Shaw to vanish from her life.

"You just gonna stand there all day?" Shaw was looking at with an eyebrow raised and Root realized she'd been staring blankly out at the ocean. "Is it…?"

"No, still nothing from Her." Her voice was level, but she felt the cold emptiness inside herself still.

"Then we need to come up with a plan now," Shaw said and moved to head below deck. She paused and looked back over one shoulder. "And, uh, I hope she turns up soon." She turned away leaving Root to smile softly at her back.

As tempting as it was to stare at the crew and try to spook them a bit more, Root resisted the urge and kept her eyes down as Shaw led her below decks.

There were no cabins on their small ship--even the captain slept in a hammock below decks in the same long room as everyone else. The best they could do for privacy was huddle in a corner and talk in low voices. John, who was too tall for any of the hammocks, was napping propped up in one corner with a blanket pulled over him and Bear asleep at his feet. Shaw woke him up with a rough nudge.

"We're about a day's sail from the western shore of the west province by my reckoning," Shaw said once John was fully awake. "The question is, do we go ashore or do we head back to Stillport?"

They hadn't heard much more news of the provinces back in Stillport, only that the Imperial Navy had been called for, either to blockade the harbors or to break a blockade on the harbor (it was unclear which). With nothing else to go on they'd hired a small ship to sail them back near the provinces in the hopes that Machina would be able to talk to Root once they got close. No ship would sail up north around the coast to where the trouble was at, but for a hefty sum the captain of their current ship had agreed to take them to the nearest port in the western province.

"Still no word from your friend then?" John asked.

Root kept her voice even. "Not yet." She hadn't slept last night in the hopes she might hear Her as they drew closer, but so far nothing.

"I say we risk it," Shaw said. "If we go back to Stillport now we won't have learned anything and we'll have wasted the coin."

John nodded in agreement. "I'm in no hurry to spend more time on ships."

They both turned to look at Root.

"There's no point in going back," she said hesitantly. She was torn between knowing the danger ahead of them and her overwhelming need to hear Her again. "We'll have to be careful, though. No using our blessings, and we'll need to try and stay away from places where we might be recognized. It's possible there's a bounty out for some or all of us for the assassination of the Imperial Emissary."

"We'll play it safe," Shaw agreed. "Stick to the wilderness until we have a better idea of what's going on."

"We can try to meet up with--"

Root didn't hear who John wanted to meet up with because, just then, she felt a familiar sensation flutter in her chest.

"Are you there?" she whispered.

There was no reply at first, and her heart sunk, but then--

_~Can you hear me?~_

Root felt her whole body trembling with overwhelming emotion. She was distantly aware that John and Shaw had stopped talking and were looking at her, but that didn't matter. The only thing that mattered was that she could hear Her again.

"Absolutely."

"Is that her?" Shaw asked eagerly.

Root waved her off and turned away from the others. They could wait a few minutes, this moment right now was about Her.

"Are you okay? What happened to you? Has Samaritan found you?"

_~I am hiding. It's looking for me everywhere--you as well. But I am safe for now.~_

Root sighed in relief.

_~You came back.~_

"Of course I did. I never wanted to leave you." She could feel Her again, like a warm presence all around her. "And I'm not going to again, I promise."

_~You will not be safe here. I can shield the three of you a little, make it hard for Samaritan to see you, but you will still be in danger.~_

"I don't care. I'm not leaving you again."

_~I cannot talk to you for long and not often. Samaritan is watching and it will find us both if I do.~_

Root had expected that, but it still hurt. "That's fine. It just means we have to find a way to stop it as soon as possible." She glanced back at Shaw and Reese who were watching her with barely-contained curiosity. "Do you have any idea how we can even start to do that? Anything?"

_~The northern and southern provinces have formed an alliance against the Empire. It is still in the early stages and the northern province is in turmoil. There is to be a conclave in a few days to negotiate the western province joining the alliance.~_

"Sounds like a mess."

_~Samaritan is behind the alliance, it is driving this war with the Empire.~_

Root had figured as much given how everything had gone down in the capital. Samaritan had created this war. "Shouldn't we be there to see what it's planning then?"

_~Perhaps, but there's somewhere else you need to be first. A town called Greymoor. There are some people there you need to talk to.~_

"People? Who? Do they know about Samaritan?"

_~I have to go now. It's too dangerous. Go to Greymoor. I will contact you again when I can.~_

"Wait! Please--" She'd been about to say 'please don't leave me', but she realized the futility and selfishness of the request. "Please be careful."

_~You as well.~_

She could tell when Machina left because the warmth that had been surrounding her vanished leaving her cold and alone.

"Is she okay?" It was Shaw, standing nearby and watching her closely.

"She's okay for now." She wrapped her arms around herself to fend off the cold. "She couldn't talk to me for long, but she told me where we need to go next."

"Where's that?" Reese asked from further back.

"A town called Greymoor. It's in the western province, I think." She'd heard the name but she couldn't remember much about it. "She didn't tell me what we need to do there yet. She...had to go."

"Guess we'll have to figure it out on our own then," Shaw said. The way she took it in stride easily was a small comfort to Root.

Reese moved over next to her, looking intent. "And what about Carter? And Zoe? Did she say anything about them?"

She hadn't even thought to ask. "No, She didn't have time. She only could talk for a minute."

"Then I need to go make sure they're okay."

"If we don't defeat Samaritan then they'll be in even worse danger. That has to come first," Root argued. Couldn't he see that?

"Let's sort this out one we're on shore," Shaw said, pushing her way between them. "As hilarious as it would be to see you two go five rounds, blasting a hole in the ship probably isn't a good idea."

Reese nodded and stepped away, but he didn't look pleased. Root watched him leave and then turned away as well to go find herself an empty hammock to curl up in. She wanted to sleep now, sink into the darkness where maybe she wouldn't feel so alone. She sat down in a hammock on the far end of the room, as far from the others as she could get. There was no privacy here, so it was the best she could do. She curled her legs up underneath her and leaned back against the wall with her eyes shut.

"Want some company?"

She opened her eyes to see Shaw standing in front of her hammock pulling her boots off. Root didn't even have a chance to answer before Shaw plopped down into the hammock next to her, making the whole thing bounce wildly and almost landing Root on top of her.

"I'm not sure this thing can support two people," Root protested, but the hammock had forced Shaw up against her side and Shaw was warm and felt safe and close.

"How long until she can contact you again?" Shaw asked, ignoring her concerns about the hammock.

"I'm not sure. I don't think She was sure either."

"She was okay though, right?"

"I think so." Would Machina have told her if She was injured somehow? Could spirits even be injured?

Shaw nodded to herself and stayed quiet besides her. Root was still worried, still felt horribly empty without Her, but having Shaw next to her helped. She didn't realize when she started drifting off to sleep until her head drooped onto Shaw's shoulder. She straightened up immediately.

"Sorry. Maybe I should get some sleep."

"It's fine." Shaw looked like she was thinking something over. "Do you want me to stay?"

Root hid her smile. She might not know what she wanted from Shaw long-term, but she knew what she wanted right now. "If you've got nothing better to do."

"Not until we get off this ship anyway."

They rearranged a little, awkwardly sliding back and forth in the cramped space until Root fell sideways and ended up lying half across Shaw's lap. She tried to get up, but Shaw's hand pressed her back down. "Get some sleep."

She curled up a little more to get comfortable and fell asleep with her head in Shaw's lap and Shaw's arm resting lightly on her side.

* * *

 

Shaw watched the shoreline appear in the distance and slowly grow nearer as the sun rose higher. The metal roofs of the small buildings of Fisher's Landing gleamed in bright colors in the late morning light.

"I haven't been here since I was a kid," she said. It looked smaller than she'd remembered, but maybe that was to be expected.

"You came here as a child?" Root sat on the ship railing next to her, also watching the shoreline.

"Yeah, my father came here once," Shaw said. "Some cousin of ours died and he had to help take care of the arrangements."

She didn't remember much other than playing on the walkways amidst the small huts that were built over the marsh that made up Fisher's Landing. The little town was mainly full of fishers and traders. It had a fair bit of boat traffic from Stillport making it a lively place, though still simply built in comparison to most harbor towns. The entire town was made up of a maze of the wood and metal huts, raised up on stilts over the water and marsh. There were no real roads, only raised walkways between buildings. Below the buildings were hundreds of small boats that the residents took out for fishing in the early hours of the morning. Even after all this time Shaw could remember watching all the little boats setting sail like a great fleet.

"Will anyone recognize you?" Reese asked from her other side.

"Doubtful. I was maybe ten at the time. I suppose it's possible they'd recognize my name though, so better not to run around shouting it." She dragged her eyes away from the shore to look at Root. "Does Machina have any news for us?"

Root shook her head. "I haven't heard from Her since yesterday."

Shaw had never seen Root look like she had yesterday when Machina had spoken to her again. It was like some radiant light had been pouring out of Root so intense was her joy and then like all that light had been snuffed out only minutes later. Root was good at hiding her thoughts and feelings away when she wanted to, but that moment had left her wide open.

Root had told them about the conclave that would be happening, and that was where Shaw really wanted to go. Of course it would be dangerous, but it would be the fastest and best way to find out everything that was going on, and potentially might give them a chance to turn things to their advantage somehow. She didn't know what was in Greymoor, but how could it be as important as what would happen at the conclave?

"I suppose we should head to shore then," Reese said once the ship was anchored. "No way to know what we're walking into, so no point in waiting around."

"How's keeping your blessing hidden going?" Shaw asked, because if Reese couldn't do that then this could go bad quite fast.

"It's not easy to maintain it, but I think I'm getting the hang of it."

"Guess that'll have to do."

The crew of the ship were glad to see them leave. They all seemed to think Root was some type of witch (Shaw was unclear why they were frightened of mythological witches when the real world was full of people with blessings that were plenty scary and powerful) and that Shaw and Reese were her bodyguards. Which was almost something approaching the truth if you looked at it from the right angle and squinted.

Getting Bear into the rowboat headed to shore was the trickiest part, and Shaw ended up with a lap full of soggy, unhappy dog for the trip. The sailors rowing the boat didn't speak to them and Shaw was grateful for that.

No one questioned people arriving in Fisher's Landing which made it the perfect place for them to disembark. From what she'd heard in Stillport, all they needed to do was tip the harbor master a few coins and then they were back in the provinces as if they'd never left.

It was eerie how normal everything seemed as their boat drifted into the docks. She'd expected some sort of visible sign of Samaritan's interference, but there was nothing that looked out of the ordinary. There were a couple children fishing off the edge of one of the walkways, surrounded by a small entourage of hungry cats. Now that she saw them, Shaw remembered the cats--they'd been all over the town and she'd wanted to take one home, but her father had said no. It made sense in retrospect--they couldn't have easily brought a cat all the way home and it wouldn't have been fair to the cat--but she'd been disappointed at the time.

The children watched them curiously as they climbed out of the boat and onto the dock. When Shaw hoisted Bear onto the dock next to her, another cat she hadn't noticed before hissed and ran away, vanishing between the buildings. Many of the cats sailed out in the fishing boats despite all the water, she remembered now. A ship with a cat had good luck the sailors had told her back then. It was surprising how many little memories were coming back to her here.

The harbor master, a large woman who looked half asleep, barely said a word to them but did make them sign a ledger that kept a record of all travellers who entered the province by the Fisher's Landing docks. Shaw strongly suspected that most of the names already in the ledger were as fake as the ones they put in their now. She hadn't expected to have to make up a fake name and in the end she looked around for inspiration and went with the color of the shirt she was wearing. Sam Grey would do for a name for now. John signed his name as 'J. Riley', and Root opted for a new name altogether and signed as Jenny Diver. Shaw wondered if that was a new alias for her or a revival of an established one.

The harbor master pocketed their coin and then disappeared back inside her hut near the end of the dock, leaving them alone except for the fishing children who were eyeing Bear with delight from a safe distance.

"So now what?" Reese asked. "And where is everyone?" The walkways of the town were deserted except for an occasional child or cat.

"Mostly out fishing," Shaw said. "This place empties out until late afternoon when everyone returns from the sea. Some folks stay ashore, of course, but they're all busy with their own tasks as well."

"At least that's less people we have to worry about." Root didn't sound worried, but Shaw could see the tension in the set of her shoulders. She'd changed from the loose clothes she seemed to prefer on the ship into the clothes Shaw was more used to seeing her in: traveling cloths and leathers, clothes she could fight in. The bracers Shaw had bought her what felt like forever ago hugged her forearms, hiding those crawling lightning scars from view. In Stillport no one would look twice at some scars, but back in the provinces they'd be far too obvious a sign for anyone looking for them.

"Think we'll be able to secure horses here?" John asked doubtfully. "It doesn't look like they're much of a horse town."

Shaw didn't remember there being horses. "I think there's a good chance we might be on foot for a bit." She welcomed it after having spent so much time cooped up on boats. It'd be good to stretch her legs again and get back out into the forest.

Food was their first concern though (or at least Shaw's first concern) and Reese managed to convince one of the dock children to show them to what passed for a tavern. It was actually a lot closer to a mess hall, in Shaw's estimation, full of long tables where the fishers would come to eat after they returned for the day. The man who owned the place was reluctant to give them food at first, but quickly changed his mind when Reese flashed some coin.

"The western province used to rely on trade rather than coin," Shaw said as they sat down at one of the tables to eat. "Before the Empire showed up, I mean. Different parts of the country would provide different resources and trade wagons travelled freely around moving goods to all the places that needed them. It wasn't a perfect system, but it worked fairly well. The Imperials banned the trade system and forced the country into using their currency when they took over. Another means of establishing control."

The other two were looking at her curiously.

"My grandmother was a historian of sorts," Shaw explained warily. She'd never talked about her family before. "Before the Imperials killed her, she passed on a lot of her knowledge to my mother who passed it on to me."

"Why did the Imperials kill her?" Reese asked, poking at what was supposed to be a bowl of stew with suspicion.

"For collecting information on the history of the provinces. They don't like that much for whatever reason." She wondered if it would have been normal for her to feel some sense of loss for the grandmother she'd never met. The only thing she felt was regret that her grandmother hadn't been able to pass on everything she'd known.

"History gives a sense of identity," Root said. "And identity can be a uniting point for people to rally around. The Imperials went to a lot of effort to strip the provinces of their identity."

It made sense and explained why there'd been a distinct lack of books detailing the history of the provinces in the University library when Shaw had looked.

"Anything else we should know about the western province?" Reese asked.

Shaw racked her brain to remember everything her mother had taught her. "They didn't have a system of government before the Empire, or not one that we'd recognize as such. There were local officials elected to keep the peace and arbitrate small disputes, and a council that met several times a year to make laws when needed and deal with foreign conflicts."

The Empire had installed a Lord Governor here as well and attempted to build a government that resembled their own more closely. There'd been varying success there. The western province had been the first conquered and the most heavily occupied, and while they'd had no standing army capable of holding off the Imperials, they'd been the province that had taken the Imperials the most time to change. It hadn't been a pleasant process for anyone, from what Shaw understood, and the province had lost more than any of the others in the end.

"There was a story that the Empire originally became interested in the western province because of a purple dye they made here." Shaw felt like her brain was stretching and coming awake to old memories today. She could almost hear her mother's voice. "The flowers for the dye only grow in certain regions here, and while the country was willing to trade some to the Empire, it was only whatever was left over after their own uses for it were filled. That color was all the rage in court that year or something and next thing you know the Empire shows up with an army."

"That's the dumbest reason I've ever heard," Reese said in disbelief.

"That's humanity," Root mused.

When they finished eating and stepped back outside, the ships were starting to return for the day. Shaw could remember standing on the deck with her father, watching all the little boats come back. Things had been a lot simpler then.

"We should go before they get back," Reese said.

"Yeah," Shaw agreed, still looking out over the docks. "I guess we should."

A hand rested lightly on her shoulder and she looked up to see Root watching her.

"Everything okay?" Root asked quietly.

"Yeah, I was thinking about...something else. It doesn't matter." She pulled away and headed towards the edge of town. There was nothing in this place for her.

* * *

 

"I missed this," Shaw said as she laid her blankets out next to the remains of the fire.

"Sleeping in the dirt?" Root asked. She took her own blankets from her pack and looked around the little clearing they'd set up camp in. There was plenty of room for all three of them (and Bear) which meant there was no reason she needed to sleep close to Shaw. Unfortunate.

"Being out in the wild. Feels a lot better than being stuck on a ship." Shaw sprawled out across her blankets.

"That part I can agree with," Reese said from the other side of the fire. He'd been tense and quiet the whole day. It was about three days to Greymoor from Fisher's Landing, but only about a day until they'd hit the road that led back towards the northern province. The road where John would be splitting off from them.

She should have been eager for that to happen, to be on her own with Shaw again, but it didn't feel right. John was part of their group, the odd little team they'd formed. He'd protected her from Kara Stanton back in the capital and then she'd helped him in turn. The three of them were a team now.

But John hadn't been willing to budge on that point. He was determined to go check on his other friends who they'd left behind, and she thought she could almost understand that urge now. So tomorrow afternoon they'd part ways.

"You just going to stand there all night?" Shaw asked.

Root realized she was still hovering uncertainly with her blankets in her arms. She made a split second decision and put her blankets down as close to Shaw's as she could while still leaving what she deemed to be a respectable amount of space between them.

Shaw looked amused by her choice rather than annoyed and only shook her head. "I'll take first watch."

Root stayed awake until she was fairly sure John was asleep and then sat up in her blankets.

"Shaw?"

Shaw was poking at the embers of the fire and didn't seem at all surprised she was still awake. "You're going to be tired tomorrow."

"Probably." Being tired felt like a constant state of being lately. "Was something wrong earlier today? In the town?"

She saw Shaw stiffen slightly and regretted the question. It was none of her business. She lay back down in her blankets.

"What does it feel like to miss someone?"

The question took her completely by surprise. "What does it feel like…." She could feel the emptiness inside her where Machina's presence should have been, and the silence in her ear. And she could still remember what it had felt like the first time she'd lost something, the deep cut of grief followed by near-blinding rage. "I think it feels differently based on the circumstances."

"Right."

She could almost see Shaw's walls coming back up and she quickly tried to find a better answer.

"I got used to Machina always being there so quickly. Even when She wasn't saying anything I could just reach for Her and She was there. When She had to go quiet it was like...imagine reaching for your sword and finding the sheath empty except far worse than that."

"Hmmm." Shaw shook her head. "That's not it. Maybe it's nothing."

Root scrambled to understand. What had happened earlier that could have thrown Shaw off balance? They'd been on the ship and then at Fisher's Landing and...of course.

"How long were you and your father at Fisher's Landing when you were a kid?"

Shaw half-turned from the fire to look at her for a long moment and then turned away again. "A few weeks." She jabbed at the embers of the fire, sending sparks everywhere. "He was busy a lot of the time, cleaning out our cousin's house and selling off his stuff, but he'd come down to the docks to watch the boats come back in with me."

There was something in Shaw's voice that almost sounded wistful.

"I hadn't wanted to go on the trip at all, you know. I wanted to stay home and train with my mother, but my father wanted me to see more of the world." Shaw nodded to herself. "I'm glad he insisted."

Root waited, but it seemed like Shaw had said everything she was going to.

"Sounds like he was a good father," she said. She'd never known her father, but that was probably for the best. For all she knew, he might have been one of the casualties in Bishop--doubtful, but she could hope.

"Yeah, he was alright. He taught me how to use my skill." Shaw turned back to look at her again, a small lopsided smile on her face. "I think he'd be pretty damned shocked by all the things I've learned to do with it, though. He definitely didn't realize how powerful it could be."

"Well, maybe he--"

"Quiet!" Shaw cut her off with a fierce whisper and rose into a crouch, her long curved knife already out. Next to her Bear rose from where he'd been sleeping, his lips curled back in a snarl, and across the fire Root could see John stirring as well.

Root hadn't heard anything, but she wasn't going to bet against them. She pulled two knives out and eyed the dark woods around them.

The attack came from all sides at once, figures slipping from between the trees into the clearing. Root threw a knife at the one nearest her and was pleased when the figure made a gurgling noise and collapsed. She pulled another knife out and turned to face the next attacker.

It was hard having to constantly remind herself not to reach for her blessing. She deflected the sword of another attacker and sprang back before a second one could flank her. It would have been so much easier if she could just blast them. Easier, and also would have been like waving a flag for Samaritan.

She caught a glimpse across the clearing of John slamming one of their attackers into a tree with his shoulder and hoped that he'd remember that he couldn't use his blessing here either.

A sword sliced through the air in front of her and she jumped back again. There were two men after her, and they were both advancing, sure of themselves now they had her outnumbered. She pulled a slightly longer dagger from her belt and got into a defensive crouch. It'd been a while since she'd had to fight completely without her blessing. Not since back when she was a child, actually.

She was still backing away slowly when someone slammed into one of the two men and sent him flying across the clearing. Shaw looked magnificent in the dim light of the clearing, her eyes glittering in the dark and blood on half her face from what Root hoped was only a small cut on her forehead. She rounded on the other man and batted his sword out of the way with her long knife almost lazily.

Neither of them was expecting the man to lunge forwards and try to tackle Shaw, and they went down in a tangle. Root took a step towards them to help, but then turned at a soft sound behind her to see the other man Shaw had hit making a run at her. She deflected his blade with her dagger and stabbed him in the throat with a knife she'd had up her sleeve.

She turned back just in time to see the man on top of Shaw stop struggling and slump over. Shaw kicked him off and stood up rubbing at her throat.

"Bastard tried to strangle me." Her eyes were a little wide and if she were anyone else, Root would have said she looked rattled. Shaw didn't get upset during combat though (or ever for that matter) and Root went and flipped the dead man over onto his back to see what had happened.

There was no wound or weapon stuck in him, and his neck didn't look broken, but his face looked odd--almost like it had been hollowed out. She looked back at Shaw.

"What happened?"

Shaw just shook her head. "It doesn't matter. He's dead now and we're safe." She turned away to check on John who was going through the pockets of one of the men he'd taken down.

"Bunch of bandits I think," John called over. "They picked the wrong camp to attack." Bear was sitting next to him, panting and looked proud of himself. Root could vaguely recall hearing him snarl during battle and hearing one of the men scream right after.

She looked back down at the corpse near her feet. Just how had Shaw killed him?

She looked up when she felt Shaw's eyes on her and then moved away from the body to help clean up the camp. If Shaw didn't want to talk about it then she could wait. For now.

"Your face okay?" John asked.

"Yeah, just a scratch. I'm going to go clean up at the creek." Shaw headed into the woods without a backwards glance.

"This guy just fall over dead?"

Root was startled to see John near the corpse.

"Maybe his heart failed."

John examined the body for a long moment and then shrugged. "Yeah, maybe. Shaw _is_ terrifying. Dead is dead anyway."

Root helped him move the bodies out of the clearing. As she worked, she thought back about everything she'd learned about how skill like Shaw's worked back at the University. She knew it had been banned, but she'd always assumed it had been because it was an alternative to blessings that couldn't be controlled the way blessings were--a power anyone could take for themselves. But what if there'd been other reasons as well?

She needed to talk to Shaw about it, and maybe Machina as well, but, judging by the closed off look on Shaw's face when she returned, it wasn't the right time.

None of them said much as they packed up their camp or on the hike to a new camp spot. When they finally unrolled their bedding again, this time John volunteered to keep watch. Shaw curled up in her blankets with her back to them and Root took the hint and didn't try to start another conversation.

It seemed impossible to fall back asleep after all that, especially with this new mystery bouncing around in her mind. Root stared at Shaw's back where she was huddled under her blankets and wished even more that Machina could talk to her freely again. With Machina gone and Shaw being evasive she felt truly alone.

Shaw gave a loud sigh and rolled over. "I can hear you thinking too much over there," she said quietly enough that only Root could hear her.

"Sorry, I'll try to think more quietly in the future."

It was dark enough that she couldn't be sure Shaw rolled her eyes.

"Just come over here." Shaw lifted the edge of her blanket. "And no talking...or anything else. I'm tired."

Root risked a glance back at John who was resolutely looking the other way out into the forest and then hurried to slide over and join Shaw under her blankets. She moved close enough so they were almost touching, but was careful to leave a sliver of space between them.

"Now sleep." Shaw ordered and shut her eyes.

Root obediently shut her eyes, but she waited until after she heard Shaw's breaths even out and opened them again. She spent a long time watching Shaw's face--peaceful in sleep--before she finally shut her eyes again.


End file.
